Citing witnesses in the sheriff court

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Inspection reports

3rd March 2026

The aim of this inspection was to assess how effectively and efficiently prosecution witnesses are cited to give evidence in the sheriff court. This includes members of the public who have been the victim of a crime or who have witnessed a crime, as well as police and professional witnesses. The inspection has been carried out jointly by HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (IPS) and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), which has allowed us to consider the citation process from both a prosecution and policing perspective.

Context

Citation
  1. A citation is an official letter sent to a witness. It advises the witness that they are required to attend court to give evidence in a trial, stating which court they should attend and the time and date they need to be there.
  1. The citation of witnesses is a key element in ensuring that criminal trials proceed efficiently. The citation process has many purposes and requires that:
  • witnesses are informed of the date of the trial and what is expected of them in a manner that is clear, and trauma-informed
  • COPFS has sufficient information to inform SCTS on the availability of witnesses to permit effective trial scheduling and minimise the impact on witnesses
  • COPFS knows whether witnesses have been cited ahead of a trial and is able to effectively respond to failure in the citation process and update the court when required.
  1. The term witness is very broad and, in general, is used to describe the different categories of people who may be cited by COPFS to give evidence in a criminal case. In this report we consider:
  • civilian witnesses – members of the public who are witnesses (including employees of Police Scotland who are not police officers)
  • police witnesses – police officers who either witnessed the crime or who were involved in investigating and reporting the crime to COPFS
  • professional witnesses – people who provide evidence in connection with their job, such as doctors or forensic scientists.
  1. In this report the terms ‘hostile’ or ‘reluctant’ witness may be referred to. We do this as it is the terminology currently used by Police Scotland and COPFS in internal business rules and SPRs. This language is often used to describe those witnesses who, for a variety of reasons, are reluctant to engage with the criminal justice process or are unsupportive of a criminal prosecution. IPS discussed how this language was outdated to describe victims in a previous report[4] and made an associated recommendation to stop using this terminology. We understand that Police Scotland and COPFS plan to move away from this language.
  1. Witness citations are typically issued by COPFS by post, or hand delivered by the police. These delivery methods are known as ‘postal service’ and ‘personal service’.[5] Personal service is the primary method of delivery for certain types of witness, or in certain circumstances:
  • when an accused person is in custody
  • when the witness is vulnerable, or a child
  • when there is less than eight weeks until the trial
  • when the witness is assessed by Police Scotland as hostile or reluctant
  • COPFS deems that personal citation is required for other reasons.
  1. Other witnesses will only receive their citation by personal service where postal has not been achieved, or there is no response from the witness to the postal citation. Citation via email is also possible, but this method of delivery is currently only used by COPFS to cite Police Scotland officers.
  1. If a witness citation needs be issued urgently, COPFS staff can issue ‘on-demand’ citations. These are paper citations which are either printed locally and collected by police officers, or emailed to the appropriate local citation unit in Police Scotland for printing and urgent personal service on the witness. This occurs when there is insufficient time to have the citation printed centrally and issued to the police in the usual manner.
  1. The COPFS citation process consists of a mixture of automation and manual document generation. Where the process is automated, this consists of witnesses being cited automatically through COPFS IT systems triggered by the number of weeks until the trial. Other parts of the process still require COPFS staff to take action to generate documentation within COPFS systems.
  1. Postal citations include a response form and a pre-paid envelope to return the form to COPFS. Witnesses are asked to reply to their citation, confirming that they will attend court on the date specified. Some information is also provided about what the witness should do if they cannot attend. If a citation is served on a witness personally, a paper form known as an ‘execution of service’ is completed by the police and returned to COPFS to inform it that the citation has been served.
  1. Excusal requests can be made by witnesses if they wish to be released from their legal obligation to attend trial as a witness. Witnesses can either seek excusal from attending court on an individual trial date or from attending all trials in the event of the case being adjourned.
  1. A countermand is a communication from COPFS to a witness who has received a citation, advising them 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.
  1. Decisions about which witnesses should be cited, excused or countermanded are taken by COPFS legal staff – prosecutors.[6] During our inspection, we considered the purpose of the paper citation process and whether the current model (with a focus on obtaining executions of service for formal citations) is appropriate in all cases.
  1. There have been some advancements in the process of serving citations. Police Scotland and COPFS created a link between their respective IT systems to share information regarding the service of legal documents. This link between the Police Scotland LDD and the COPFS Legal Document Exchange (LDX) system allows COPFS to see how the police have progressed with serving legal documents.
Trauma-informed approach
  1. As knowledge and understanding of the psychological impact on victims and witnesses develops, it is important that justice partners consider all interactions and processes in the justice system through a trauma-informed lens. This means recognising that trauma affects victims and witnesses, and that practices must be adjusted to prevent further harm or re-traumatisation, to support recovery.[7] The five key principles of trauma-informed practice are:
  • Choice
  • Collaboration
  • Empowerment
  • Trust
  • Safety
  1. The key principles are not absolutes. Many witnesses may not wish to be involved in the criminal justice process, and they have little choice in this regard. However, trauma-informed practice is about harm reduction. For the purposes of this inspection, one of the key questions is whether the current citation process is sufficiently trauma-informed.
  1. Both COPFS and Police Scotland have committed to become trauma-informed organisations. The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 was passed by the Scottish Parliament during the course of our inspection and requires criminal justice agencies, including COPFS and Police Scotland, to have regard to trauma-informed practice in their work with victims and witnesses of crime.[8]
Procedural framework
  1. The legal framework for citing witnesses is set out in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 and the Act of Adjournal Criminal Procedure Rules 1996. While there are different types of criminal procedure and courts in Scotland, this inspection focuses only on citations issued for attendance at summary trials, and sheriff and jury trials in the 39 sheriff courts across Scotland. Witness citations in the Justice of the Peace Court, the High Court and Fatal Accident Inquiries are out of scope for this inspection.
  1. There are two types of criminal proceedings that can be taken when a prosecutor decides on court proceedings – ‘summary’ or ‘solemn’. Summary procedure trials are before a sheriff sitting alone and have a maximum custodial sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment. In ‘solemn’ procedure in the sheriff courts, trials are before a sheriff and jury with a maximum custodial sentence of five years’ imprisonment, and the possibility for a sheriff to remit the case to the High Court for sentence if appropriate.
The law of citation
  1. A detailed examination of the law of citation of witnesses in criminal proceedings is not the purpose of this inspection but, given our view that increased use of digital options to improve the citation process is essential, consideration of certain aspects of the legislation is of benefit. Unfortunately, the legislation on citation of witnesses is often, and unhelpfully, combined with citation of accused persons. The law has developed incrementally and has been described as somewhat confused.[9]
  1. The long-held method of citation of all witnesses in Scotland has been by personal service of citation by police officers. Until 1996, the only competent method of citing witnesses was by an officer of law personally delivering the citation.[10] In 1997, a pilot scheme was introduced to cite witnesses in certain cases by post. Postal citation of witnesses is now the default method when there are more than eight weeks between the issue of the citation and the trial in all cases in the sheriff court, including sheriff and jury trials. As explained above, postal citation requires civilian witnesses to return a reply form in a pre-paid envelope to COPFS, confirming that they will attend or explain if or why they cannot. This reply form is an ‘execution of service’ and is sufficient legal proof that the witness knows of the trial. There is a requirement for witnesses to return their citation within 14 days of receipt but there is no penalty for failing to do so.
  1. While postal citation is now the predominant method of citation, Police Scotland remains significantly involved in delivering citations in the traditional way, i.e. attending at the home or business of the witness and hand delivering the citation to the witness. The circumstances in which ‘personal service’ of citation is used by COPFS are set out above at paragraph 5. On service of a personal citation, the officer completes the paper execution of service; this is returned to COPFS and is sufficient legal proof that the witness knows about the trial.
  1. The legislation in respect of citing witnesses to attend summary trials differs from witnesses in sheriff and jury trials. In summary procedure, a court cannot issue a warrant for the arrest of a witness if they do not attend a trial, unless it is proved to the court that the witness received the citation or that its contents came to the knowledge of the witness.[11] The consequence of the legislation is that it is possible for a sheriff in a summary trial to issue a warrant to arrest a witness without an execution of service, although this does not happen in practice. A similar requirement for witnesses in sheriff and jury trials has been repealed.
  1. In 2007, legislation was enacted that allowed for the citation of witnesses by email in summary proceedings.[12] It is unclear if the legislator intended to allow for the use of email citation in both summary and solemn proceedings; however, a general provision in rules created by the High Court allows for email citation in both proceedings.[13] The law on electronic service of documents is in a period of flux and legislation has been passed to repeal the 2007 changes, but this has not been brought into force.[14] This same legislation[15] provided the High Court with the ability to amend the relevant Act of Adjournal to make provision for something to be done in electronic form or by electronic means.[16]
  1. The wording and form of a citation is fixed by law (for more detailed consideration of citation content see paragraph 274). It is likely the legislator originally intended email citation to be used in summary proceedings, as an email citation was not created for use in solemn proceedings.
  1. During our inspection, the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025 was enacted and received Royal Assent on 19th November 2025. This legislation allows for service of documents, including citations, by electronic means[17] if a witness has ‘indicated to the sender’ a willingness to receive it that way. The legislation does not specify whether such an indication can be given to COPFS via Police Scotland, but this appears logical. If this interpretation is correct, willingness to be cited by electronic means could be granted at the time a statement is taken. This legislation is not limited to email and refers simply to ‘electronic transmission’. While the legislative position has developed incrementally, it is clear that the Scottish Parliament has made efforts to allow those within the criminal justice sector to use technology in their processes, including for the citation of witnesses.
  1. If a response to a postal citation is not returned to COPFS, then citation of the witness by personal service is mandatory.[18] There is no such requirement if email citation is used. Aside from this limitation, it is a matter for COPFS to decide upon the appropriate method of citation and when such citations are issued.[19] There is no minimum period of notice a witness must receive before they are required to attend court after receipt of a citation. The legislation does not explicitly require COPFS to issue citations when a trial is assigned. That means that there is no legal difficulty with witnesses being requested to attend court rather than through the issue of a formal citation.
Operating context – summary case management
  1. During this inspection, the procedure by which sheriff summary cases are dealt with has changed. An initial pilot scheme of summary case management (SCM) was rolled out to become the standard model. The changes brought about by the move to the SCM model has significant implications for the number of citations issued and how the citation process is managed in summary cases.
  1. Through early case management hearings, SCM aims to reduce the number of cases set down for trial unnecessarily, the volume of late pleas of guilty, and late decisions on discontinuation, thereby reducing the adverse impact on victims, witnesses and the accused. Key features of the new approach are the early disclosure of key evidential material, agreement of evidence and early judicial case management. The pilot began in Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley on 5th September 2022. In each area it was rolled out for use first in domestic abuse cases, followed by all other summary cases at a later date.
  1. On receipt of an SPR by Police Scotland,[20] if a decision is taken for a case to proceed in summary procedure as part of case marking,[21] an assessment is made by a prosecutor about which witnesses are required to prove a case. The SPR provides a synopsis of the available evidence. In domestic abuse cases, this is supplemented by key evidence.[22] It is possible for COPFS to request additional evidence (including witness statements) in non-domestic abuse cases, prior to deciding which witnesses to cite. A trial should not be scheduled and therefore witness citations not issued until key evidence has been disclosed to the accused’s solicitor and evidence agreed. Prior to the rollout of SCM, initial decisions on citation of witnesses in summary cases were almost always taken on the content of the SPR alone.
  1. Before SCM became the national model, the progress on citation of witnesses was gathered by COPFS in all summary cases for an intermediate diet[23] where the court requires to establish whether the Crown and defence are ready for trial. This includes whether the witnesses have been cited. The current model of SCM instructs that intermediate diets will be dispensed with unless the court considers it necessary and that citations will not be issued until the case is ready to proceed to trial.
  1. The SCM model mirrors sheriff and jury procedure, where there is no routine court calling of the case between the citations being issued and the trial, which creates a potential gap for COPFS to effectively manage and check that witnesses have been cited for trial.
  1. The number of first citations issued and re-issued in the SCM pilot areas has been monitored by COPFS since 2022. Reports detail the average (and actual) monthly numbers of first citation and re-citation for all types of offence[24] and any decreases in citation as a result of the SCM pilot. The table illustrates the decrease in issue of citations in the original five pilot offices since the pilot began in each area.

Decrease in issue of citation in SCM pilot offices (pilot commencement – June 2025)

Dundee

Hamilton

Paisley

Glasgow

Perth

First cite – all types of offence

-39%

-35%

-38%

-15%

-39%

First cite – domestic

-33%

-32%

-23%

-34%

-52%

Re-cite – all types of offence

-43%

-39%

-31%

-10%

-21%

Re-cite – domestic

-58%

-43%

-31%

-44%

-46%
  1. Data showed in the month of June 2025, for all types of offence, 10,320 first-cite citations and 12,607 re-citations[25] were issued in summary courts, with a reduction of up to 39% and 43% respectively between pre and pilot periods in the pilot offices. This reduction is largely attributed to the success of SCM. Data provided by COPFS in September 2025 continues to show a decrease of witnesses cited and re-cited in these offices and others that have since joined the roll-out.
  1. The COPFS Local Court Business Plan 2025/26 has a target to reduce the issue of citations by 25% in the areas where SCM has commenced. The table above shows COPFS is successfully achieving this in the five original pilot offices. These reductions represent hundreds of witnesses who are no longer required to be cited to give evidence. The success of the SCM model results in fewer witness citations being issued and, therefore, fewer witnesses impacted by the citation process, attending court and giving evidence. However, while SCM may have had success in reducing the number of citations being generated, it does not address all the issues in the citation process, nor the lack of modernisation and digitalisation.
  1. The SCM pilot evaluation concluded that, during the 19 months of the pilot period, an estimated 18,000 witnesses were not cited or re-cited due to SCM, of which 11,000 were police witnesses. It was further estimated in this evaluation that – had SCM been in place nationally for the same 19 months – 89,000 witnesses would not have been cited or re-cited, of which 50,000 would have been police witnesses.[26]
  1. While there was variation in metrics of success between courts in the pilot areas, should SCM succeed as a model nationwide the impact on the number of witness citations issued will reduce significantly primarily due to the reduction in trials.
Data on citation
  1. Comprehensive data on the citation process is not readily available. Examples of data that should be available, but is not, include how many witnesses:
  • ask to be excused from giving evidence
  • are excused
  • are countermanded
  • attend court
  • give evidence.
  1. The data that is available, although not fully comprehensive, provides an insight into the scale of witness citation in Scotland, the impact of ‘churn’ and repeated citation, and the limited numbers of witnesses who ultimately give evidence compared with the volume cited.
  1. In 2024-25, in summary courts, a total of 157,615 citations and 179,475 re-citations were issued.[27] In the same year, 31,238 citations and 30,386 re-citations were issued in sheriff and jury courts. This represents an overall total of 398,714 – all potential occasions on which sheriff court witnesses’ lives could be affected and/or disrupted.
  1. In 2024-25, 48,360 summary and 5,919 sheriff and jury cases called for trial in sheriff courts across Scotland. However, witnesses gave evidence in only 13% of summary and 21% of sheriff and jury cases.[28] While this is a slight improvement from 2023-24,[29] many witnesses will still have been cited to give evidence and attended court in trials that ultimately did not proceed.
  1. Trials may not proceed for a variety of reasons – many of which are beyond the control of COPFS. However, adjournments and discontinuations can be caused by failures in the citation process. Over the past five years, an average of 56%[30] of all Crown adjournments at trial were due to witnesses not attending, or not being cited.
  1. Police Scotland estimate[31] that between October 2023 and October 2024 they received approximately 154,000[32] witness citations to serve. There has been a decrease in personal citations issued by COPFS during the course of our inspection, in part, due to introduction of a longer timescale[33] for witnesses to return postal citations replies, which will be discussed at paragraph 99.

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