CROWN OFFICE AND PROCURATOR FISCAL SERVICE
24 August 2008
Article by the Lord Advocate for the Sunday Mail
on the role of Specialist Investigation of Sexual Offences
As Scotland's chief prosecutor it is my aim to ensure that prosecutors across Scotland are equipped to provide a consistently high quality of investigation and prosecution of sexual crime. In 2006 we completed a 3-year review of the way we approach sexual crime. We spoke to victims and support workers and heard first hand about their worries and concerns. One of the recommendations of the review was that we develop specialisation in the investigation of sexual offences in Scotland.
We will never be able to make the experience of giving evidence in such dreadful cases a pleasant one for victims but I am determined to make sure that prosecutors across Scotland do all within their power to investigate these cases with rigour and sensitivity. That's why I am determined to introduce a specialist approach.
Traditionally prosecutors have been trained on the law and the skills of advocacy but we now know that the investigation of sexual crime requires much more. It is vital that prosecutors have an understanding of the psychology of sexual offending, its impact on victims and the experience facing those who may have to give evidence at trial. I believe that these cases should be investigated and prosecuted by the very best of our staff, those with the utmost skill and ability. It is for that reason that we are aiming to ensure that by the summer of 2009 only prosecution staff who have been approved according to clear standards of competence will investigate sexual offence cases - in effect introducing specialist investigation of sexual crimes in Scotland.
I'm in no doubt that this is a time of profound change for us. We have already set up a specialist sex crimes team at the Procurator Fiscal's Office in Edinburgh as a pilot. There the police and Procurator Fiscal's staff work together to build cases which will be compelling for juries. We have also appointed one of Scotland's most senior and skilled High Court prosecutors Dorothy Bain QC to work closely with the team to ensure that investigations are, from start, informed by the knowledge of those who actually prosecute rape and other sexual crime in the High Court. It's a model which I think works well in our cities where the volume of sexual crime is such that there is a need to harness the collective experience of specialist prosecution staff. But the challenge is to guarantee that every sexual offence case is handled by someone who is equipped to approach the complex issues which these cases raise, and to do so with sensitivity. That's why our work to approve specialist staff across the whole country is so important; we need to be confident that, wherever it takes place in Scotland, sexual crime is investigated and prosecuted by those who understand it.
While it is a major undertaking for the Prosecution Service, I am convinced that specialist investigation and prosecution is something we must aim for if we are serious about bringing to justice the perpetrators of sexual crime in Scotland.