Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC says Scotland needs to look towards developing a modern approach that takes account of the devastating emotional damage to victims caused by domestic abuse as well as the physical damage that is so often caused - and we need a law that recognises that and punishes those responsible.
The Crown Office can reveal that £8 million was seized from criminals in Scotland last year under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The Crown Office welcomes today's Scottish Government announcement to strengthen the criminal law against human trafficking and increase support for victims. Tragically human trafficking is big business, it has strong links to serious and organised crime and it is of great concern that it takes place in Scotland. The Lord Advocate has already appointed a specialist prosecutor to deal with cases involving those who commit these abhorrent crimes to ensure the challenges of prosecuting these crimes are addressed from the outset. The measures announced today will greatly assist prosecutors in ensuring that those who peddle such misery face the consequences of their actions.
The Crown Office welcomes the publication of the determination following the FAI into the Super Puma helicopter crash and hopes that the conclusions will help to improve safety in the industry.
The evidence presented during the FAI has not altered the insufficiency of evidence therefore the decision not to hold criminal proceedings remains the correct one.
Following reports in today's press regarding claims in a documentary to be broadcast today that terrorists hired by Iran were responsible for the Lockerbie bombing, the following statement has now been issued by the Crown:
"There is nothing new in these claims and some of the accounts of the evidence reported are inaccurate.
The Cold Case unit within the Crown Office has today issued a statement in relation to one of
A delegation of Scottish and US law enforcement and prosecutors to Tripoli, Libya has met with senior members of the Libyan Congress, and both the UK and US Ambassadors to Libya, to discuss the ongoing criminal investigation into the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1988. The Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, who led the delegation, has said the meetings were extremely positive and there is a commitment on behalf of the Libyan authorities to work with both Scotland and the United States to progress the investigation.
Following an investigation under the direction of the Crown Office Cold Case Review Unit, John Docherty, born 2 December 1964 has been indicted for the murder of Elaine Doyle in Greenock on 2 June 1986. The case will call for a preliminary hearing at the High Court of Justiciary, Glasgow on 10 February 2014. This is the first indictment to be served following an investigation by the Cold Case Unit set up by the Crown Office in 2011.
A Skills for Justice report on enhancing the professionalsim of the provision of interpreting in the Scottish criminal justice sector was published today. The report was commissioned by the Working Group on Interpreting and Translation (WGIT) whose members include the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The publication reports on the key findings of a scoping exercise to review and evaluate current interpreting provision, standards, qualification, training and service contracts.
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