About the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service provides Scotland's independent public prosecution and deaths investigation service. It is part of the Scottish Government and is headed by the Lord Advocate, whose position as the head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland is protected by the Scotland Act.

The
Lord Advocate is assisted by the Solicitor General for Scotland. Together they are the Scottish Law Officers and members of the Scottish Government.

The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are assisted by Advocate Deputes and who are known collectively as Crown Counsel. Advocate Deputes are experienced advocates or solicitor advocates, including suitably qualified members of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and are appointed for a period of about three years.

The
Crown Agent and Chief Executive is a senior civil servant and the permanent head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Crown Office, Edinburgh, is the headquarters of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, with main divisions as follows:

Strategy and Delivery Division
Operations, which prepares cases for the High Court and Court of Appeal and also contains the National Casework Division and the International Co-operation Unit and houses the Scottish Government's Civil Recovery Unit
Corporate Services, with responsibility for policy, finance, human resources, estates, communications and IT.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is divided into
11 areas, with an Area Procurator Fiscal for each. These areas coincide as far as possible with the boundaries of the 8 Scottish police forces, except in Strathclyde which has been divided into 3 areas:

Argyll and Clyde (at Paisley)
Ayrshire (at Kilmarnock)
Central (at Stirling)
Dumfries and Galloway (at Dumfries)
Fife (at Kirkcaldy)
Glasgow
Grampian (at Aberdeen)
Highland and Islands (at Inverness)
Lanarkshire (at Hamilton)
Lothian and Borders (at Edinburgh)
Tayside (at Dundee)

Within the
areas, there is a network of 48 District Procurator Fiscals, one for each Sheriff Court district.

COPFS is committed to providing a high quality of service to the public, with the following objectives:

To secure the confidence of our diverse communities by improving the delivery of justice through the timely, efficient and effective prosecution of crime;
To give priority to the prosecution of serious crime, including drugs trafficking and persistent offenders;
To provide services that meet the information needs of victims, witnesses and nearest relatives, in co-operation with other agencies;
To ensure that all deaths reported to the Procurator Fiscal are investigated appropriately and speedily.

This Service fully recognises the need to improve the support and assistance available to victims and witnesses. The Crown Office
Victim information and Advice Service (VIA) exists to provide information to victims about cases in which they are involved and about agencies that they can contact for additional help and support. It is designed to provide a way through the system for victims.

The principal aims of VIA are:

To give information to victims, bereaved next of kin and some witnesses about the criminal justice process;
To keep victims and bereaved nearest relatives informed about the progress of the case that affects them; and
To tell victims, bereaved families and vulnerable witnesses about other agencies that can give specialist support and help.

COPFS does not own or partly own any companies which may fall under the scope of the Act.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service