Citing witnesses in the sheriff court

Accused: person charged with committing a crime.

Adjournment/adjourned diet: a break in court proceedings. Most commonly used in this report to refer to a case being put off until a later date.

Advocacy services/support agencies: agencies that support a victim through the justice process, including by assisting them to express their views and have those views heard. Usually employed by a third sector/support organisation.

Alternatives to proceeding: instead of prosecuting an accused in court, the prosecutor may decide that it is more appropriate and in the public interest that an alternative to prosecution is offered.

Autocite: an automated process COPFS computer system that generates witness citations when a trial is fixed. Autocite applies to summary cases only and citations are generated in accordance with business rules on witness type and time until the trial.

Bail: an accused person’s status when they have been allowed to remain at liberty (that is, not imprisoned) pending trial or sentence, subject to conditions.

Bail conditions: conditions imposed by the court on the accused – usually designed to protect victims and the public. These can be standard conditions of bail or additional special conditions to protect a witness. If an accused person does not follow these conditions they may be in breach of bail and reported to the procurator fiscal by the police.

Case management hearings: a feature of the summary case management pilot that involves early judicial case management. Sheriffs may continue cases to these hearings to ensure the defence has had sight of the key evidence in a case before a decision is made by the accused to plead guilty or not guilty.

Case marking: when initial prosecutorial decisions are made on action to be taken in a case.

Case marking instructions: essential guidance and direction for prosecutors making initial decisions on reports from the police and other agencies.

Charge: the crime that the accused person is alleged to have committed.

Child: a person under the age of 18, as defined in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

Citation: a legal document sent to a witness requiring them to attend at court on a certain time and date to give evidence.

Complaint: a court document in summary proceedings that details the charges against the accused.

Countermand: a communication from COPFS to a witness who has received a citation to advise that they no longer need to attend court to give evidence at trial. Countermands can be issued for a variety of reasons, for example, the trial is not proceeding, or a particular witness is no longer required to attend.

Court depute: prosecutor who appears in court to prosecute or process criminal cases.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS): the independent public prosecution service in Scotland. It is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crime, the investigation of sudden, unexplained or suspicious deaths, and the investigation of criminal allegations against the police. Also referred to in this report as ‘the Crown’.

Custody: when a person is kept in police custody until the case is heard in court.

Depute: abbreviated term for a procurator fiscal depute.

DESC: a collaborative programme between the Scottish Government, Police Scotland, COPFS and SCTS to allow digital sharing of evidence across the justice sector.

Disclosure: COPFS has a duty to disclose all material information to the defence, including that which strengthens or weakens the case against the accused.

Discontinuation: when a prosecutor decides to stop the prosecution in a case that has commenced in court.

Excusal: requests made by witnesses to ask to be released from their legal obligation to attend at a trial as a witness.

Execution of service: a form completed by the police and returned to COPFS advising whether or not a citation has been served on a witness.

Failure demand: demand for a service caused by a failure to do something or do something correctly for the service user. The service user makes additional demands of the service, which could have been avoided, and unnecessarily takes up further time and resources.

First calling: the first time a case is called in court.

First cite: the first time a citation is issued to a witness.

Hostile/reluctant witness: a term used by Police Scotland and COPFS to describe a person who is reluctant to engage with the criminal justice process or is unsupportive of the criminal prosecution.

Indictment: court document that sets out the charges the accused faces at trial in solemn proceedings along with lists containing the names of the prosecution witnesses and items of physical evidence.

Intermediate diet: A procedural court hearing which calls in court around a fortnight before the trial to establish the state of preparation of the prosecutor and the defence and whether the trial diet is likely to go ahead.

Key evidence: evidence required for proof of the offence such as a statement from the complainer or other eyewitnesses, photographs, video and any forensic evidence.

Legal Document Database (LDD): an electronic system used by Police Scotland to track legal documents to be served, including citations. COPFS can access data on citations and attempts to serve citations on an interface called the Legal Document Exchange (LDX).

Lord Advocate: ministerial head of COPFS. She is the senior of the two Law Officers, the other being the Solicitor General.

Marking: decision of action to be taken in a case. Initial marking is the first decision made in a case reported to COPFS by the police, usually by the marking depute.

Marking depute: the prosecutor who makes the initial decision on how to proceed with a case.

Motion: an application made by the prosecutor or defence solicitor during court proceedings for a decision to be made by a sheriff on a particular matter. These can usually either be made in writing or verbally in court. Usually either party can oppose the other’s motion.

National Enquiry Point: COPFS’s customer contact centre. The first point of contact for many members of the public seeking information from COPFS. Where appropriate, calls are transferred to local procurator fiscal offices.

National Initial Case Processing Unit (NICP): the national unit within COPFS where initial decisions are made about alternatives to prosecutions and prosecutions in the justice of the peace courts or sheriff courts before a judge without a jury. 

National Print Unit (NPU): unit of COPFS, currently based in Paisley, which prints and issues citations and other legal documents. It is also responsible for scanning in returned citations and executions of service.

No proceedings: a decision made by a prosecutor not to prosecute or to take any action for an offence reported by the police or other reporting agency.

On-demand citations: citations printed in local COPFS offices that are collected or emailed to local police citation units of Police Scotland for urgent personal service on witnesses where there is insufficient time for the citation to be printed centrally.

Part-heard trial: where a trial cannot conclude, usually due to the absence of a particular witness. The trial begins and the available witnesses give evidence. It is then adjourned to a later date for the remainder of the evidence.

Personal citation: a citation issued to the police for personal service on witnesses of certain categories (where an accused is in custody, the witness is vulnerable or a child, there is less than eight weeks to trial, the witness has been assessed by Police Scotland as hostile or reluctant, where COPFS deems it is required for other reasons, or where postal citation has failed).

Pleading diet: the first date assigned for a summary case to call in court where the accused will usually be asked whether they plead guilty or not guilty.

Plea(s): the answer an accused gives to the court at the beginning of a case when they are asked if they are guilty or not guilty of an offence. It also can refer to a plea where the prosecutor accepts that the accused will plead guilty to all or a reduced number of charges, or part of a charge, in order to resolve the case with a guilty verdict. Plea negotiation is a legitimate exercise of a prosecutor’s discretion.

Police Scotland: police force established in 2013 responsible for policing across the whole of Scotland, made up of 13 local policing divisions, as well as national specialist divisions.

Police Scotland Chief Officer Team: command team that supports the Chief Constable and consists of Police Scotland’s chief police officers (ranks of Deputy Chief Constable and Assistant Chief Constable) and selected senior members of police staff.

Police witness scheduler application: digital scheduling application developed by Police Scotland that takes account of police shift patterns to identify the most appropriate dates for police witness attendance.

Pre-intermediate diet meetings: a meeting between the prosecutor and the defence outwith the courtroom to discuss a case. The purpose is to help ensure that only cases that cannot be resolved by a plea and are ready for trial proceed to the trial date. Parties are present at an intermediate diet only when necessary.

Procurator fiscal depute/prosecutor: legally qualified prosecutor who receives reports about crimes from the police and other agencies and makes decisions on what action to take in the public interest and, where appropriate, prosecutes cases.

Production(s): physical evidence shown in court.

Prosecution code: sets out criteria for decision making, the range of options available to COPFS prosecutors, and values that underpin decisions.

Protocol for witness citations targets: a joint agreement dated 2013 between COPFS and Police Scotland setting out targets for both COPFS and the police in the service of personal citations in summary cases.

Protocol for the excusal of police witnesses: a joint agreement dated 2013 between COPFS and Police Scotland setting out targets for responding to excusal requests from the police.

Public interest: as well as considering whether a police report discloses sufficient admissible, reliable and credible evidence of a crime alleged to have been committed by the accused, prosecutors also consider if any prosecutorial action is in the public interest. Assessment of the public interest often includes consideration of competing interests, including the interests of the victim, the accused and the wider community. The factors taken into account in assessing the public interest will vary according to the circumstances of each case.

Re-cite/Re-citation: second or subsequent citation of a witness in the same case.

Report case: where a person is not in custody or released on an undertaking, a report, in the form of an SPR, is sent to the procurator fiscal, who will decide what action to take.

Reporting officer: the police officer who submits the SPR to COPFS.

Response and Information Unit (RIU): this unit manages and responds to formal complaints made to COPFS.

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS): supports justice by providing the people, buildings and services needed to support the judiciary, the courts, devolved tribunals and Office of the Public Guardian.

Scottish Police Authority (SPA): independent of both the Scottish Government and policing, the SPA is the primary governance body for policing in Scotland with the remit of holding the Chief Constable to account, and promoting, supporting and overseeing improvement in policing. It also has responsibility for the management and delivery of Forensic Services in Scotland and Independent Custody Visiting Scotland.

Sheriff Clerk: responsible for the organisation of the work of the sheriff court. In the courtroom, the clerk will call out the case, keep a formal procedural record and record the decision of the sheriff.

Sheriffdom: the court system in Scotland is divided into six areas called sheriffdoms. These areas are Glasgow and Strathkelvin; Grampian, Highland and Islands; Lothian and Borders; North Strathclyde; South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway; and Tayside, Central and Fife.

Solemn proceedings/cases: prosecution of serious criminal cases before a judge and a jury in the High Court or sheriff court.

Soul and conscience certificate: a document provided by a qualified medical practitioner certifying, on their ‘soul and conscience’, that a person is medically unfit to attend court on a particular date or dates.

Special measures: different ways to help vulnerable witnesses, including all children, to give evidence.

Specialist reporting agency (SRA): an organisation other than Police Scotland that reports alleged crimes to the Procurator Fiscal. These include, amongst others, HM Revenue and Customs, Health and Safety Executive, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Trading Standards Scotland.

Specialist units: teams within COPFS where prosecutors focus on a particular specialised area of criminal law, such as serious sexual offences or health and safety offences.

SPR: Standard Prosecution Report (also sometimes called Standard Police Report).

Sufficiency of evidence: evidence from at least two independent sources that the crime was committed, and that the accused was the perpetrator of the crime.

Summary case management: introduced in 2022, this uses a collaborative approach to manage proceedings through early disclosure, agreement of evidence and judicial management in sheriff court summary cases.

Summary proceedings/cases: prosecutions in the sheriff or Justice of the Peace court before a judge without a jury.

System to Co-ordinate Personnel and Establishment (SCoPE): Police Scotland’s human resources system.

Trainee depute: a trainee solicitor. Within COPFS, trainees receive training on the skills required to be a procurator fiscal depute.

Trauma-informed: being aware of how trauma or experiences that have harmed or threatened a person will negatively affect their behaviour over time. It involves taking steps within working practice to recognise this, address what the person needs and avoid distress and re-traumatisation.

Trial diet: a court hearing where evidence is led before a judge (and a jury in solemn proceedings) to determine if a person is guilty of a crime.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.

Undertaking: the document signed by someone who has been arrested and released on police bail after promising to come to court at a later date and agreeing to certain conditions, such as not committing any other crimes.

Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service: a service provided by COPFS that offers information and assistance to some victims and witnesses. It does not provide emotional support to victims, but can signpost victims to other services for such support. Records of action taken by VIA are recorded in a VIA minute sheet.

Warrant: a document granted by the court, usually at the request of the prosecutor, giving police the authority to arrest someone. A warrant may be issued for the arrest of the accused or a witness if they have failed to attend court.

Witness: person who may be cited by COPFS to give evidence in a criminal case. This may be a civilian (members of the public or police staff who are not officers), police officer (who either witnessed the crime or was involved in investigating and reporting the crime to COPFS), or a professional (people who provide evidence as part of their job, for example, doctors or forensic scientists).

Witness engagement team: a team within COPFS that manages availability of witnesses in sheriff and jury cases. This team has been subsumed by the witness management team (WMT).

Witness Gateway: a digital platform allowing victims and witnesses optional online access to information related to their case, and guidance about the court process.

Witness management team: a team within COPFS that deals with returned unserved witness citations and executions of service. It now includes the role of the witness engagement team (WET).