Performance Management Information
Introduction to Class
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's (COPFS) Case Management Database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. The operational data needed for business purposes includes that which is required to prepare court documentation for cases; to send and receive electronic information regarding court appearances and results; to cite witnesses; and to deal with issues relating to disclosure of information to the defence etc. The information within the database is held at case level, with the information recorded for each case including the charges against each accused person in terms of the specific common law or statutory offence that is alleged to have been committed.
The database not a statistical database. It is - as noted above - designed to meet the Service's business needs in relation to the processing of criminal cases and the information within it is structured accordingly. While some statistical information can be extracted, this can often be a complex and time-consuming process.
Statistical information on prosecutions can often be more easily obtained via the Court Proceedings Database maintained by Justice Analytical Services in the Scottish Government. This database - which is designed to provide statistical information - contains information about cases prosecuted in the Justice/District Courts, the Sheriff Courts and the High Court and can provide information either at the level of the specific offence or by certain broader groupings of offences (e.g. crimes of violence, crimes of dishonesty, offences involving drugs, offences involving offensive weapons, etc). It also includes information on sentencing outcomes and the characteristics of convicted offenders. Information extracted from the database is published annually by the Scottish Government in a statistical bulletin on
Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts.
The Court Proceedings Database does not however contain information about cases where the Procurator Fiscal decides that no action should be taken or that there should be a non-court disposal such as a warning letter or fiscal fine etc.
Information available
Where the information within this class can be located
This information can be located in the "
About Us" section of the COPFS website under
Corporate Information.