Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

12 August 2009

COPFS Strategic Plan 2009-2012

The Right Honourable Elish Angiolini QC today launched the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's
Strategic Plan for 2009 - 2012 . This sets out the aims and priorities of the Service in serving the public and prosecuting without fear or favour.

COPFS is committed to playing its part in helping to make Scotland a safer place in which to live. This will be demonstrated by:

¨ Targetting serious crime;

¨ Effectively tackling anti-social behaviour;

¨ Listening and responding to the concerns of local commuities; and

¨ Working together with other criminal justice agencies.

Mrs Angiolini said:

"It is our aim to provide the best possible prosecution service for the communities of Scotland. In this Plan, we set out how we aim to do this by effectively addressing all crime in all its forms with all its consequences.

"We prioritise serious crime. This is displayed through the the work of our specialist sexual crimes prosecutors, our intelligence led approach in fighting organised crime, and our robust approach to knife crime.

"We will also tackle persistent ongoing lower level crime which can so seriously impact on local communities. This is shown in our continued use of direct measures to deal with this type of offending quickly and effectively with the minimum distress for victims and witnesses.

"The criminal landscape changes and the types of criminal behaviour with which we are faced become ever more varied and complex. This is why we are increasing our use of specialists in relation to areas such as sexual offences, heath and safety, financial crime and wildlife crime. We are also developing further the role of specialisation in the investigation of deaths.

"It is our duty to act always in the public interest. This is no abstract concept: we are informed in our actions always by the needs of local communities. This means listening to the concerns of local communities and responding appropriately. Our prosecutors will be active in their community, know their community, and be known in their community."

Notes for Editors

1. The Strategic Plan is available on the Crown Office website (
www.copfs.gov.uk) and hard copies are available from the Crown Office Communications team (communications@copfs.gsi.gov.uk).

Communications 0844 561 3596