Annual Report 2024-25

Foreword

I was delighted and proud to take up post as His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland (Chief Inspector) in July 2025, bringing with me over 25 years of experience as a prosecutor. I am pleased to have the opportunity to set out my vision, priorities and aims for HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (IPS) during my time as Chief Inspector. It feels apt then for the theme of this year’s annual report to be change – with change both at the helm at IPS and across the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

Whilst this is my first annual report as Chief Inspector it will reflect the sterling work carried out by my predecessor, Laura Paton and the IPS team from 1^st April 2024 to 31^st March 2025 which I will discuss in more detail later in this report. Ms Paton had been in post since 2019 and has left a real legacy at IPS through wide-ranging, considerate and impactful inspections whilst developing the process for implementation of IPS recommendations – I am grateful to Ms Paton for her work and for the assistance she has given me in passing on the Chief Inspector baton.

Change across COPFS

COPFS is about to undergo a period of significant change which we will consider when determining future inspection topics.

The current transformation priorities for COPFS set out in their 2023-27 Strategic Plan^[1] are to:

1. Improve the experiences of women and children within the justice system

2. Improve how they communicate with their customers and partners and the support they offer to the most vulnerable service users

3. Achieve quicker conclusions to criminal and death investigations

The associated strategic aims, set out in the 2025-26 COPFS Business Plan^[2] are to:

1. Continuously improve their service

2. Deliver high quality casework

3. Support their people to deliver excellence

The mechanism for change, underpinning these strategic priorities is the implementation of a governance programme called ‘Designed for Success’ (DFS).

We are advised that DFS is a wide-ranging programme which will be implemented by late 2025. It aims to improve the COPFS organisational and governance structure, review management structures, roles and responsibilities whilst embedding a leadership and management framework and creating improved training. COPFS intends for DFS to improve its processes and capacity for managing essential services and to support COPFS staff through a period of significant change in the justice system and the organisation, whilst improving the ability of COPFS managers to get the best from their teams.

Going forward, we will doubtlessly consider whether the changes in the COPFS governance structure and leadership are realising the intended benefits.

Spending and workload across COPFS

As set out in the COPFS Financial Strategy 2023-27,^[3] COPFS is wholly funded by the Scottish Government and is subject to annual budget allocations via Resource and Capital Spending Reviews.

A COPFS Resource Spending Review 2024 successfully secured funding for 2025-26 to:

• ‘Meet the reasonable public expectations of a public prosecution and death investigation service;
• Respond effectively to the increasing complexity of serious crime and changing patterns of crime following the Covid-19 pandemic;
• Continue to reduce the court backlog created during the restrictions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic and timebars returning to pre-pandemic timescales;
• Investigate additional deaths related to the Covid-19 pandemic;
• Pursue international investigations and prosecutions across the EU following the UK’s withdrawal;
• Continue to make progress in modernising the criminal justice system;
• Respond to the significant increase in sexual offence reports whilst reducing the journey time for these cases and cases involving children and vulnerable adults.’

The Spending Review resulted in an increased funding allocation from 2022-23 onwards. The total COPFS funding allocation for 2024-25 was £223 million – up from £196.6 million in 2023-24. Against that, as set out in the COPFS Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2025^[4] the volume and complexity of casework constantly changes.

COPFS continues to see increases in the number of serious crimes being reported, a trend which was evident before the Covid-19 pandemic. Legacy Covid-19 pandemic cases have had a significant impact on COPFS workloads including supporting victims, witnesses and next of kin throughout their wait for a delayed trial. The workload has also increased for sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths reported to COPFS. The increase in the number of overall deaths reported to COPFS to investigate is not entirely attributable to Covid-19 pandemic deaths.

We will consider the nature, volume and impact of COPFS workloads throughout our inspection activity.

Inspection aims and values

One of the first documents I referred to when I took up office is the Cabinet Office Guidance which sets out the 10 principles of public sector inspection.^[5] These 10 principles are also in keeping with our IPS values as set out in the ‘About us’ section of this report and our vision to promote excellence and confidence in Scotland’s prosecution service through independent, evidence-based scrutiny.

As Chief Inspector, the principles of inspection resonate with me and my desire to make a practical difference, not least the explicit concern to contribute to the improvement of the service being inspected.

With that in mind, my priorities for IPS are as follows:

1. People

2. Practical

3. Process

4. Primary

5. Progress

6. Public

People

As the sole prosecution and deaths investigation authority in Scotland, COPFS ought to have people at its heart.

In recent inspections, IPS has quite rightly focused on improving service provision for victims and witnesses. For many individuals who have cause to interact with COPFS it will be their only experience of the criminal justice system, some will have little or no knowledge of what COPFS does and why. In a large proportion of cases victims, witnesses and bereaved families will be interacting with COPFS at a very difficult time in their lives, in circumstances which all too often feel beyond their control. That is why customer service focus is so important.

As borne out by the information in the COPFS 2024-25 annual report,^[6] day to day, COPFS staff deal with difficult and challenging work – from large volume summary casework to supporting victims, witnesses and next of kin to prosecuting and preparing serious, complex cases. In recent years there has been an additional need to reduce caseloads and to tackle backlogs created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is reassuring to note that COPFS is encouraging a trauma-informed approach across all its work, including the establishment of a Trauma-Informed Justice Implementation Team and a Trauma-Informed Board. This is reflected in the COPFS 2025/26 Business Plan.^[7] There is also associated trauma-informed e-learning, however so far the take up rate by staff across COPFS has perhaps not been as high as hoped.^[8] COPFS are also working to improve the current provision of vicarious trauma support services for its staff which is wholly necessary given the demands of the many roles within COPFS. A trauma-informed approach and ensuring a high standard of service delivery will be key considerations during my time as Chief Inspector. To that end all IPS staff have undertaken trauma-informed training.

It is also evident from some of the recent internal COPFS review work – The Review of Child Deaths and Non-Accidental Injuries in Children as commissioned by the Solicitor General^[9] and the Review of Sexual Offences commissioned by the Lord Advocate^[10] that treating people with compassion, dignity and respect is a priority for COPFS.

The COPFS VIA^[11] Modernisation Programme (VMP) was commissioned by the Lord Advocate in late 2022. The first phase of the modernisation programme considered how to deliver an improved service through effective preparation and prosecution of casework, and communication. Phase two of the programme, which we understand commenced in 2024-25, was to consider the fundamental elements of the VIA service and devise changes needed to ensure it continues to meet the needs of victims, witnesses and next of kin.

Unfortunately, we have seen little evidence of the impact of this work in the context of implementing the recommendations from our inspection report on The prosecution of domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level which will be discussed in further detail later in this report.^[12]

Training of COPFS staff, as touched on in our 2023-24 annual report^[13] is an area on which we would like to focus too and will touch on further below.

Practical

During my time in post, I will work with COPFS throughout our inspection activities and to implement the recommendations made in our inspection reports. I am already really encouraged by early engagement with those COPFS senior leaders and the staff leading the implementation of ongoing inspections.

It is also a positive development that staff leading on the response to the Responding to enquiries: service delivery through National Enquiry Point ^[14]inspection report have recently been ringfenced to carry out this work, away from busy day jobs and are further supported by a working group led by and made up of a number of COPFS senior leaders.

This is a model that we would be keen to see mirrored by COPFS when it comes to the implementation of inspection recommendations not least as often IPS recommendations require cultural/organisational wide change and are not restricted to one area of the business.

It is clear that COPFS is committed to supporting the work of IPS and implementing our recommendations as highlighted in their published plans and reports. As will be seen in our inspection activity many recommendations across numerous inspection topics have been achieved or are in progress albeit the pace of implementation is not always as hoped. Whilst, undoubtedly, some of our recommendations will be aspirational in the short term, I want to make sure that all of them are realistic and achievable which will improve COPFS and help to bring about meaningful change for victims, witnesses, next of kin, wider service users, including the accused, the public and COPFS staff as quickly as possible. With that in mind, it is likely that some of the recommendations which IPS make going forward will have a timescale for implementation.

We will also continue to ensure that thorough follow-up work across our inspections is carried out where necessary.

Process

The mainstay of a lot of inspection work is, naturally, consideration of existing processes.

There is a great deal of process change already underway and in anticipation across COPFS not least in relation to Summary Case Management (SCM) which is to be rolled out across all summary sheriff courts by December 2025. Summary Case Management is a judicially-led initiative designed to create a more effective system for handling summary cases and deliver better outcomes for all those involved – especially victims and witnesses.

Through early disclosure, meaningful engagement between parties, and proactive judicial management, SCM helps resolve cases earlier, reduces witness citations, and ensures trials proceed when scheduled. Data shared with us in relation to the courts where SCM was originally rolled out (Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley) showed a significant reduction in the amount of cases which proceeded to trial and therefore the amount of witnesses that were cited by COPFS.^[15]

Primary

By primary, I mean ‘getting it right the first time’.

Failure demand is when an organisation’s failure to deal with an issue effectively the first time prompts additional and unnecessary work whilst damaging confidence in the organisation. This is referred to throughout our inspection activity and was specifically highlighted in our two most recent inspections – The prosecution of domestic abuse cases at sheriff summary level and Responding to enquiries: service delivery through National Enquiry Point. In those inspections failure demand related to inefficient processes and lack of staff resources, training and experience.

This is a consideration across the board for any large organisation but given the emerging theme, one that we plan to specifically focus on throughout our inspection work. In particular, we’d like to consider staff training provided by COPFS and whether it is currently equipping its staff with the correct skills and tools to carry out their work.

Progress

As inspectorate of the sole Scottish prosecution authority, keeping abreast of legal changes including in prosecution policy and technological developments are important.

Over the last year, there have been a number of legal challenges and changes faced by COPFS.

Of note are the Lord Advocate’s References of 2023 which clarified the law on corroboration and required COPFS to immediately review its casework and roll out bespoke training for its staff in early 2025.^[16][17] The Lord Advocate also referred two appeals to the High Court in relation to the recently incorporated^[18] United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), in which the court held that the Crown did not act incompatibly with the UNCRC when taking a decision to prosecute the children who were the subject of the appeal. COPFS also undertook two appeals to the UK Supreme Court and a series of Crown appeals against unduly lenient sentences.

The case of Daly v HMA^[19] has also been significant for COPFS this year – an appeal case argued by the Solicitor General in which the judgement is awaited revealed significant problems with COPFS disclosure practices. The Solicitor General advised the court that there would be a review of what happened in the case and a wider systemic review of COPFS disclosure practice.

There have also been more wide-ranging considerations by COPFS reflected in the Lord Advocate’s statement to the Scottish Parliament regarding prosecution guidance on public safety and prison population in October 2024.^[20] In that statement, the Lord Advocate acknowledged that whilst the system of criminal prosecution and the courts are not normally to be constrained in their independent decision making by the capacity and condition of the prison estate. However, as a temporary and exceptional measure seeking to reduce the Scottish prison population prosecutors were instructed to have regard to the current pressure on prison population as a relevant public interest factor in their decision making – at least temporarily and until the issue was alleviated.

One factor that prosecutors were asked to take into consideration was the use of direct measures, including the use of diversion from prosecution. IPS undertook a Joint review of diversion to prosecution with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland in 2023.^[21] Further detail about the implementation of that inspection will be provided later in this report.

Technological advances are also being made by COPFS. Over the course of the last year the organisation has focussed on digital projects in particular SCM, Witness Gateway,^[22] Defence Agent Service (DAS),^[23] Digital Evidence Sharing Capability (DESC),^[24] Body-Worn Video Integration,^[25] rollout of Electronic Reporting to Crown Counsel^[26] and the use of the Case Management in Court (CMiC) application for sheriff and jury cases^[27] all of which COPFS advise are working well and making a real difference.

Certainly, practitioners to whom we have spoken in relation to our current inspection – Citing witnesses in the sheriff court – were generally positive about the impact of SCM and its success appears to be borne out by the related data. It will be interesting to consider the longer-term impact of SCM and other digital innovations for both practitioners and other service users during our inspection activity. One imagines that similar technological and process changes might be greatly beneficial to solemn case management too, not least owing to the significant Covid-19 pandemic related backlogs still being felt across the criminal justice system in Scotland.

Fundamentally though, we still hear regularly from COPFS staff that a poor case management system hampers and hinders productivity and impacts morale across the organisation. Currently, there also appears to be no clear prioritisation or oversight of COPFS digital projects led by Information Services Division (ISD) that we have been able to determine throughout our inspections. We understand that COPFS has recognised this and have recently established a Portfolio Management Office who will have the remit of overseeing all projects within COPFS. We will no doubt consider the work of this office in the future.

Public

As the public prosecutor and investigator of all sudden and unexpected deaths in Scotland, COPFS requires to be transparent and accessible to the public. All too often we hear in the media the phrase ‘a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal’ but it is not necessarily widely known or understood what that actually means.

Lived experience and user perspective is key here^[28] and it will be vital, across our inspection activity to make recommendations that will assist COPFS in de-mystifying the role of the Procurator Fiscal.

The most obvious starting point, with modernisation in mind, is the information provided on the COPFS website. This will be reflected in our next inspection report on citing witnesses in the sheriff court.

As commented on in our last annual report, publication of more meaningful data about the work undertaken by COPFS would provide the public, stakeholders and Scottish Government with a more accurate picture of the service provided by COPFS and the challenges it faces.

Finally

Great thanks must go to the inspectorate team for all of their hard work throughout the year, not least as they were without a Chief Inspector from March to July, and for their care and support as I have settled into my new role.

Our current inspection topic, citing witnesses in the sheriff court, is a significant, joint piece of work with HMICS. I am grateful to HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Craig Naylor and his team along with all of those who have shared their experiences of the citation process to help bring about much needed change and modernisation.

I would also like to thank the Crown Agent and all of the COPFS staff who have given so willingly of their time, knowledge and experience across our inspection activity.

I am excited about the year ahead and look forward to working with the team, the Law Officers, Crown Agent and COPFS inspection implementation leads to continue to drive improvements and to make positive, practical changes for victims, witnesses, next of kin, accused, the public, COPFS stakeholders and staff through our independent scrutiny.

Deborah O’Brien Demick, HM Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland

November 2025