Career Disciplines Information
A general outline of the kind of jobs available in Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is shown below.
Administrative Posts
Minimum qualifications for entry to COPFS at administrative level are 5 Standard Grades at level 3 or above, (including English) or equivalent. Alternatively, you must have experience of general office work.
Administrative Posts in COPFS include:
Fiscal Officers: Postholders carry out administrative, typing and support work in many areas throughout the Department. They receive specific instructions from their line manager and legal staff working within their office/unit, but will often work on some duties without specific direction, after sufficient training and experience.
Personal Assistant Positions: Postholders are often experienced members of staff who provide support and secretarial assistance to one or more managers.
Management Positions: COPFS has a wide variety of management posts and many of them are specialised or technical positions.
Precognition Officers: Postholders prepare reports (precognitions) on criminal offences, sudden, accidental or suspicious deaths and complaints against the police. The reports are submitted to Crown Office to help prepare cases for court. The reports include information about what happened and details from interviews with the people involved.
Area Business Managers (ABM): Postholders are responsible for and accountable to the Area Procurator Fiscal (APF), for management of people, resources, systems and processes in their Area. ABMs works very closely in partnership with their APF, and support them in their responsibilities for the effective management of their Area.
IT posts: Crown Office Information Systems Division employs specialist technical staff including systems analysts, software developers and PC engineers. Much of the work in the Department involves the use of IT systems and equipment.
Legal Posts
Legal Traineeships
Graduates in Law may apply for a two-year traineeship with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. We take on 25 trainees each year. Applicants must have completed a Law Degree gained at a Scottish University. We also welcome applications from those with suitable law qualifications, who have previously had experience in other professions or walks of life. There may be an opportunity to continue a career in the service after completing the traineeship.
Recruitment of trainees takes place annually, normally around December or January.
Lawyers
There are excellent opportunities for lawyers who wish to expand their knowledge and experience of the Scottish criminal justice system. The Procurator Fiscal Depute is responsible for the direction of the police on local criminal enquiries, deciding when, and when not, to prosecute, as well as for investigating all sudden and suspicious deaths, the conduct of Sheriff and District Court proceedings and preparing cases for prosecution in the High Court.
Legal posts in the Department offer a unique professional challenge, and there may be opportunities for progression to interesting and worthwhile legal posts in operational, strategic and management positions.