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The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (Scottish Gaelic: Morair Tagraidh, is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. The Lord Advocate provides legal advice to the government on its responsibilities, policies, legislation and advising on the legal implications of any proposals brought forward by the government. The Lord Advocate is responsible for all legal advice which is given to the Scottish Government.
His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service which together constitute the Criminal Prosecution Service in Scotland.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the Scottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, along with the sheriffdom procurators fiscal. In Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken by the Crown. Private prosecutions are extremely rare.
William Gordon Jackson KC is a senior Scottish lawyer who served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates from 2016 until 2020. From 1999 to 2007, he was a Scottish Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Govan.
Colin Boyd, Baron Boyd of Duncansby, is a former Scottish judge who was a Senator of the College of Justice from June 2012 to June 2024. He was Lord Advocate for Scotland from 24 February 2000 until his resignation on 4 October 2006. On 11 April 2006, Downing Street announced that Colin Boyd would take a seat as a crossbench life peer; however, he took the Labour whip after resigning as Lord Advocate. He was formally introduced in the House of Lords on 3 July 2006. On the day SNP leader Alex Salmond was elected First Minister of Scotland, it was reported that Boyd was quitting the Scottish Bar to become a part-time consultant with public law solicitors Dundas & Wilson. He told the Glasgow Herald, "This is a first. I don't think a Lord Advocate has ever done this—left the Bar and become a solicitor."
Lady Elish Frances Angiolini is a Scottish lawyer who is a Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford and has served as the Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford since 2012; she was a candidate in the 2024 University of Oxford Chancellor election. In June 2023, she was appointed to the office of Lord Clerk Register by King Charles III, the first woman to hold the role since its creation in the 13th century.
A procurator fiscal, sometimes called PF or fiscal, is a public prosecutor in Scotland, who has the power to impose fiscal fines. They investigate all sudden and suspicious deaths in Scotland, conduct fatal accident inquiries and handle criminal complaints against the police. They also receive reports from specialist reporting agencies such as His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
John Beckett, Lord Beckett is a Scottish lawyer who was appointed in 2016 as a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Court of Session.
Alan Turnbull, Lord Turnbull is a Scottish lawyer, and a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the country's Supreme Courts. He was one of the lead prosecutors in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial.
Alastair Peter Campbell, Lord Bracadale is a retired senior Scottish judge.
Francis Mulholland, Lord Mulholland, is a Scottish judge who has been a Senator of the College of Justice since 2016. He previously served from 2011 to 2016 as Lord Advocate, one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland and the country's chief Law Officer, and as Solicitor General, the junior Law Officer.
Arlene Fraser was a 33-year-old woman from Elgin in Moray, Scotland, who vanished from her home on 28 April 1998 after her two children went to school. No trace of her was ever found, but her husband was convicted of her murder, upheld on appeal.
Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mischief, and public order offences including mobbing and breach of the peace. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statutes of the UK Parliament with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and traffic offences appearing identical on both sides of the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and Prostitution (Scotland) Act 2007 which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of corroboration in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in England or in civil cases in Scotland. Scots law is one of the few legal systems that require corroboration.
Her Majesty's Advocate v Thomas Sheridan and Gail Sheridan was the 2010 criminal prosecution of Tommy Sheridan, a former Member of the Scottish Parliament and his wife Gail Sheridan for perjury in relation to an earlier civil case called Sheridan v News Group Newspapers. Tommy Sheridan was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison, whereas Gail was acquitted.
Dorothy Ruth Bain is a Scottish advocate who has served as Lord Advocate since 2021. She is the second woman to hold the office after Lady Elish Angiolini KC. Bain previously served as the Principal Advocate Depute from 2009 to 2011, the first woman to hold the prosecutorial position in Scotland.
Lesley Thomson is a Scottish lawyer who served as the Solicitor General for Scotland from 2011 to 2016. She was appointed to the office on 19 May 2011, after the Scottish Parliament election, succeeding Frank Mulholland who was promoted to Lord Advocate.
Fraser v Her Majesty's Advocate (2011) UKSC 24 is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom relating to the effect of non-disclosure of evidence to the defence at trial and the role of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in Scots criminal law.
Alison Di RolloKC (née Lafferty) is a Scottish advocate who served as Solicitor General for Scotland from 2016 to 2021.
The murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar occurred in November 1998 in Overtown, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Two prosecutions – in 1999 and in 2000 – were unsuccessful. Two inquiries were held that reported in 2001. Eighteen years after the crime, in October 2016, a conviction was made. This was only the second time in Scottish legal history that a person was tried twice for the same crime. This controversial case raised a number of complicated legal issues, including the double jeopardy rule, as well as institutional racism on the part of investigating police and prosecutors.
References
- ↑ "New senior prosecution team for High Court cases - Glasgow Solicitors Blog from the GLP". Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
- ↑ McIndoe, Ross (12 March 2020). "Alex Salmond trial: who is Alex Prentice QC - the lawyer leading the former First Minister's prosecution". The Scotsman . Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ↑ "Alex Salmond accused of sexual assaults on 10 women". BBC News. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ↑ "The Murder Trial | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ↑ "Watch The Push: Murder on the Cliff | Stream free on Channel 4".
- ↑ "Father of Arthur's Seat murderer sparks outrage with comment in TV documentary". 4 March 2024.