Crown Office

AN INTRODUCTION TO DIVERSITY IN THE CROWN OFFICE AND PROCURATOR FISCAL SERVICE (COPFS) - BY THE LORD ADVOCATE, ELISH ANGIOLINI, QC

Welcome

to the Diversity section of the COPFS Website. This section is here to provide you with information about our approach to Diversity.

We want to provide an independent, modern prosecution service that pursues cases fairly and consistently in the public interest. To do this we require to maintain the security and confidence of all of Scotland's diverse communities. In order to earn that confidence we have to ensure that we treat people fairly and in accordance with their needs.

Scottish society, including the COPFS workforce, are diverse - made up of different people from different backgrounds who all have their own lifestyles, beliefs and experiences.

We are working hard to have greater awareness of this diversity so that we can ensure that our policies and practices treat all of Scotland's communities with fairness. The COPFS Website is a wonderful opportunity for us to show what we are doing to achieve this. The Website is a window through which you can look to find evidence of our efforts.

Please take the time to have a browse through this and other sections of the Website and if there is anything else you would like to know about our approach to Diversity, please contact our dedicated Diversity Team.

COPFS has a well-established structure for appreciating diversity. The strategic approach to the Race Equality Action Plan and the Diversity Action Plan is formed by the Diversity Strategy Group - chaired by the Solicitor General - which meets on a 6 monthly basis. The Diversity Strategy Group is informed by the heads of department and Area Procurators Fiscal from their deliberations at the quarterly discussions on diversity at Area Fiscal's Group. The Area Fiscal's Group receives a report from each of the 11 Procurator Fiscal Areas in Scotland at each of its quarterly discussions on diversity. Each Area Procurator Fiscal Diversity Team submits quarterly reports to the Diversity Team at the Crown Office , which is responsible for collating these reports and for safeguarding diversity interests. Several of the Area Diversity Teams have members drawn from local minority ethnic communities and other minority communities.

Diversity, COPFS - our Action Plans

The COPFS approach to appreciating diversity is set out in our Action Plans . The Race Equality Action Plan is a product of the Race Relations Amendment Act. The Disability Equality Action Plan sets out how we will meet the duties of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 . The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and places a Statutory Duty on public authorities, which comes into force on 6 April 2007. Our Gender Equality Action Plan sets out how we will meet the Gender Equality Duty. The COPFS Diversity Structure addresses all equality strands including age, religious or other beliefs, and sexual orientation. You can find out more about our statutory duties in the Statutory Codes of Practice . See also the Equal Opportunities Commission website.

Diversity, COPFS - our Staff

COPFS has designed and been rolling out its own Diversity Awareness Programme for all members of staff. Every member of staff is required to attend this 2-day course. Each course is presented by a combination of COPFS, specially trained, presenters and also external presenters.

The course contents were designed specifically for the COPFS and were intended to be of as much practical use as possible for staff.

We have published our 2005 evaluations of our staff's views on the course and an assessment of the impact of the course. Courses continue to be evaluated.

We have also produce information about the diversity of our staff and we will produce information about staff recruitment, training and promotion.

Diversity, COPFS - our Awareness

This Diversity section also contains reports from our 11 Area Diversity Teams - giving an indication of the sort of work being done by them and also the amount of time spent on diversity issues. The existence and work of these Area Diversity Teams means that there is an established system for turning the COPFS diversity strategy and policy into practice.

COPFS also has an independent Equality Advisory Group (EAG) which gives advice on COPFS policy and practice. This group meets quarterly (but also discusses things "electronically") and consists of a small number of COPFS staff and external members who have a special interest in areas of diversity. The publication of the minutes of EAG meetings demonstrates the independence of the EAG and the transparency of its deliberations.

We have developed our own Diversity Proofing Process and produced a Diversity Proofing Progress Chart, which shows the COPFS policies and practices which have been, or are in the process of being, diversity proofed and what impact this had on them.

Most of our work is investigating and prosecuting crime, and investigating sudden, unexplained or suspicious deaths. On the Race and Religious Hatred Crime page on this website, you can find the Lord Advocate's Guidelines to Police for the investigation and reporting of racist crimes and offences aggravated by religious prejudice. We have also included on this page, the results of an analysis of surveys that have been carried out on reports submitted to us by the police to assess how well these guidelines have been followed.

We provide guidance to our staff on a number of diversity issues. We have developed a COPFS Guide on Asylum Seekers and COPFS Guidance on the Niqab (Face Veil).

We are committed to assessing our policies and practice, particularly where there are considerations which arise from a person's ethnic, cultural or religious background. The Family Liaison Protocol Review Report considers the communication and liaison in homicide cases between the Procurator Fiscal, the COPFS Victim Information and Advice service (VIA) and police Family Liaison Officers and makes recommendations to improve practice.

Diversity, COPFS - our Laws

Scots criminal law has many ways of protecting the people of Scotland. There are many common law offences that can be made worse and punished more strongly, depending on who the victim is and the circumstances of the offence. In recent years new statutory laws on race crime and religiously aggravated crime have reinforced these common law offences.

The Scottish Government Working Group on Hate Crime looked at whether there should be more new laws designed to protect specific groups. The COPFS gave advice to this Group on their recommendations.

Interpreting and Translation and Transcription

COPFS recognises that communication is not a luxury and removing the barriers to information or advice is an important aspect of our diversity work. It is vital that everybody who becomes involved in the criminal justice process has a full understanding of that process. COPFS has access to the Language Line telephone interpreting service and RNID Typetalk service. There is information available here about COPFS translation and interpreting work and also on the translated materials currently available. "Interpreting " relates not only to providing services for those whose first language is not English but also to the work done by sign language interpreters. Transcription refers to making documents available in other formats for people who have sight impairment.

COPFS chairs The Working Group on Interpreting and Translation, whose members come from some of the main criminal justice organisations - the Scottish Police Service, the Scottish Courts Service, the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Aid Board. This Group aims to establish common standards for interpreting and translation in the Scottish criminal justice system and has produced the Code of Practice for Working with Interpreters in the Scottish Criminal Justice System. The Code sets out the responsibilities for those providing interpreting services and those working with interpreters at a police station, at precognition and in court.

The Inspectorate of Prosecutions for Scotland Report 2005

The Independent Inspectorate of Prosecutions for Scotland has published two reports, the first in 2005 and second in 2007. The Report on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service's Response on Race Issues and the COPFS response can be viewed here. The second thematic report on Liaison in Death Cases with Particular Reference to Organ Retention and the COPFS response can also be viewed.

Diversity Team

Telephone: 0131 226 2626

E-mail: diversityteam@copfs.gsi.gov.uk