COPFS provides Scotland’s independent prosecution service and is headed by the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and Crown Agent. COPFS is governed by a Strategic Board.
COPFS is organised into five distinct functions. Each function specialises in a specific part of our work. Local Court, Death Investigations, Litigation, and National Casework handle specific types of crime. Corporate Services handles essential business tasks.
Our leaders
Law Officers
Together, the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are known as the Law Officers.
The Law Officers set the strategic priorities, objectives and prosecution policy for COPFS.
Lord Advocate
The Lord Advocate is head of the systems for the prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths in Scotland, functions which are exercised independently of any other person. The Lord Advocate also has several statutory functions, including in relation to extradition and mutual legal assistance with other jurisdictions.
The Lord Advocate is a Minister of the Scottish Government, but decisions by the Lord Advocate about criminal prosecutions and the investigation of deaths are taken independently of any other person.
The Lord Advocate was appointed by the King on the recommendation of the First Minister, with the agreement of the Scottish Parliament.
The current Lord Advocate is Ruth Charteris KC who was appointed in June 2026.
Ruth Charteris KC has extensive experience in civil and criminal law. She graduated from the University of Glasgow and came to the Bar on completion of her post as Legal Assistant to the Lord President, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry. She held the role of Standing Junior and Second Standing Junior to the Scottish Government between 2012 and 2020. On taking silk in 2020 she took up a full-time commission as an Advocate Depute before her appointment as Solicitor General for Scotland in 2021.
As Solicitor General she appeared in several significant criminal appeals covering areas such as consent to assault in intimate relationships, intoxicated rape and the requirement for corroboration in domestic abuse cases, as well as in a number of unduly lenient sentence appeals. She has appeared in the Supreme Court in both civil and criminal appeals, including in the landmark case of Daly and Keir v. HM Advocate.
She has a special interest in human trafficking including the criminal exploitation of children. She oversaw the COPFS review into the investigation and prosecution of child deaths and serious injuries.
Solicitor General
The Solicitor General is the Lord Advocate’s deputy. They assist the Lord Advocate to carry out their functions. They are also a Minister of the Scottish Government.
The Solicitor General was appointed by the King on the recommendation of the First Minister, with the agreement of the Scottish Parliament.
The current Solicitor General is BJ Gill KC who was appointed in June 2026.
BJ Gill KC has extensive experience in civil and criminal law.
He was a full-time Advocate Depute from 2021 and a Senior Advocate Depute from 2025 until his appointment as Solicitor General in June 2026.
Before becoming an Advocate Depute, he had a general practice at the Scottish Bar with a focus on public and administrative law and valuation for rating. He was Standing Junior to the Advocate General for Scotland and the Home Office from 2012 until 2021. He acted in many public law cases, principally in relation to immigration, asylum and planning matters. He appeared for the UK Government Law Officers in their reference to the Supreme Court under section 33 of the Scotland Act 1998 for a ruling on the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament’s UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill, the first such reference to be made.
He is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. Before calling to the Bar in 2006, he had a career in New York and London as a finance lawyer and spent two years working in Whitehall as a government drafter. He has a particular interest in asylum law and for several years was a volunteer lawyer with European Lawyers in Lesvos, a pro-bono legal advice project based in Greek refugee camps.
Crown Agent
The Crown Agent is the principal legal advisor to the Lord Advocate on prosecution matters and the Chief Executive of COPFS.
The Crown Agent is accountable to the Law Officers for the delivery of efficient and effective prosecution of crime and investigation of deaths, in accordance with their priorities and prosecution polices. The Crown Agent is the Accountable Officer for COPFS and, as such, answerable to the Scottish Parliament for the regularity and propriety of COPFS’ finance and the stewardship of public monies.
The current Crown Agent is John Logue, who was appointed in 2022 as interim Crown Agent, and then appointed to the permanent role in December 2023. John Logue has been a prosecutor in Scotland for nearly 30 years, having started as a trainee solicitor with the COPFS in 1994.
Governance
Strategic Board
The Strategic Board sets the organisation’s strategic direction including vision, aims and objectives.
The Strategic Board’s role is the provision of advice, challenge, support and assurance to the Crown Agent and Chief Executive as Accountable Officer. The Board focuses on a range of areas including:
- performance and outcomes
- people and capability
- finance and risk
- organisational efficiency
- corporate wellbeing
The Board is chaired by a Non-Executive Director and includes senior members of staff and non-executive directors.
An internal Leadership Board and Audit and Risk Committee report to the Strategic Board.
Publication of board minutes and associated papers
We publish the minutes of our Strategic Board, Leadership Board and Audit and Risk Committee meetings.
You can view meeting minutes in our publications area.
Strategic Board membership
The current members of the Strategic Board are:
- Dame Alison Saunders, Non-Executive Director (Chair)
- John T Logue, Crown Agent and Chief Executive
- Yvette Greener, Chief Operating Officer
- Lindsey Miller, Deputy Crown Agent and Legal Director for Local Court
- Jim Brisbane, Director of Strategy
- David Watt, Non-Executive Director
- Dia Banerji, Non-Executive Director
- Christopher Andrew, Non-Executive Director
- John Burns, Non-Executive director
- Jennifer Connelly, Non-Executive Director
Our functions
- Local Court
- National Casework
- Deaths Investigation
- Litigation
- Corporate Services
Local Court
The Local Court function prosecutes cases in Justice of the Peace and Sheriff Courts.
Local Court teams work in offices across Scotland. Offices are grouped into six Sheriffdoms:
- Glasgow and Strathkelvin
- Grampian, Highland and Islands
- Lothian and Borders
- North Strathclyde
- South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
- Tayside, Central and Fife
A specialist national team in Local Court makes initial decisions in all summary crimes reported to COPFS.
Local Court also includes responsibility for prosecuting wildlife and environmental crimes.
National Casework
Teams in National Casework investigate and prosecute cases that need special knowledge or experience. Examples include organised crime and appeals.
National Casework also includes High Court teams. The most serious crimes in Scotland are dealt with by the High Court, including sexual offences.
Deaths Investigations
The Deaths Investigations teams are responsible for investigating all sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths.
This includes specialist deaths investigations teams like road traffic fatalities, covid-19 deaths, and homicides.
Litigation
The Litigation team is responsible for civil litigation, judicial reviews and other legal services in COPFS.
Corporate Services
Teams in Corporate Services complete essential business tasks. The function includes finance and procurement, estates, HR, security, IT, transformation and performance.