Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24: Main findings
Main findings from the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24.
Public awareness of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland and one of the organisations which form the Scottish Criminal Justice System.
This section is based on questions asked of one-third of the overall SCJS sample.[1] Most of these results are not broken down for population sub-groups within this report but full results for demographic and area characteristics are provided in the 2023/24 SCJS online data tables.
Did the public report knowing about the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service?
The 2023/24 SCJS estimates that over two-thirds (70%) of adults in Scotland had heard of COPFS, with younger adults less likely to have heard of COPFS than older adults (41% of 16-24 year olds compared to 81% of adults aged 60 and over).
Of those who were aware of COPFS, most (72%) reported knowing not very much or nothing at all about its work, while over a quarter (28%) reported knowing a fair amount or a lot.
The roles and responsibilities of COPFS are to investigate, prosecute and disrupt crime; establish the cause of sudden, unexplained or suspicious deaths; and investigate allegations of criminal conducts against police officers.[2]
Adults who said they were aware of COPFS were asked to indicate what roles they believed are carried out by COPFS, choosing multiple answers from a list of four options (where two were correct and two incorrect). Almost three-quarters (73%) identified the correct role of COPFS in investigating and prosecuting crime and almost half (48%) identified the correct role in investigating sudden and unexpected deaths. However, almost half said they thought COPFS decided on sentences for those found guilty of crime (48%) and 39% thought COPFS represented the victims of crime in court, neither of which are responsibilities of COPFS.
Have respondents had contact with COPFS and, if so, how satisfied were they with the way COPFS dealt with them?
Around a quarter (28%) of adults that had heard of COPFS said they have had any contact with COPFS at some point, including for professional reasons.
The most common ways in which adults had contact with COPFS included:
- in another professional capacity (28%)[3]
- as a witness of crime (26%)
- as the accused (20%)
- as the victim of a crime (15%)
Other ways in which contact was made are shown in Figure 9.1.
For those who have had contact with COPFS, two thirds (66%) of respondents said they were satisfied with the way COPFS dealt with them the last time they had contact, 22% were dissatisfied and 12% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.
Figure 9.1. Around half of adults who had contact with COPFS did so as either a witness or in another professional capacity.
Ways in which respondents had contact with COPFS.
Variable: QCOP5.
[1] In 2023/24, 1,699 respondents answered the COPFS module of the survey. For more information on the questionnaire content and structure, please see the Technical Report.
[2] Detailed description of COPFS’s values and objectives available on the COPFS website.
[3] ‘Another professional capacity’ refers to someone who was involved in a professional capacity but not as a criminal justice partner for example Police Scotland and Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service.
Contact
Email: scjs@gov.scot