UK Resilience
Last updated: 28 October 2008
There is no coroner in Scotland. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the prosecution service in Scotland and inquires into all sudden, suspicious, unexplained or accidental deaths.
The Procurator Fiscal investigates certain categories of deaths. The aim on any investigation is to find out whether any criminal act has caused or contributed to the death, or to discover whether the death has arisen from hazardous circumstances where action may prevent future deaths or injuries. Usually, sudden deaths come to the attention of the Procurator Fiscal through a report from the police, a doctor or the local Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Fatal Accident Inquiries are held under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiry (Scotland) Act 1976.
The Inquiries Act 2005 and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 also apply in Scotland. For further details of these, see the Inquiries topic sheet.
When there is an emergency, the Procurator Fiscal is advised immediately and attends the scene. During the investigation, the Procurator Fiscal works with the police or other relevant bodies to ensure that all relevant information is collated. Usually, the police and/or other relevant reporting agencies submit a report to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration. Once the Procurator Fiscal has all the relevant information, he or she will consider what, if any, action is appropriate. The decision in relation to the nature of proceedings, which may follow in connection with a death, cannot be determined until the investigation by the Procurator Fiscal has been concluded.
The investigation is designed to determine whether there are circumstances to confirm that the death appears to have been caused as a result of a criminal act or omission and, if not, whether the death has occurred in circumstances where a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry is appropriate. An inquiry may be held in other cases of sudden, suspicious or unexplained death, or death in circumstances that give rise to serious public concern. Decisions on whether these discretionary inquiries are held are made by the Lord Advocate.
A Fatal Accident Inquiry is essentially a fact-finding exercise carried out in the public interest. The rules of evidence and the standard of proof are as for civil cases in Scotland. The purpose is to determine where and when the death took place, the cause of the death, reasonable precautions whereby the death might have been avoided, the defects, if any, in any system of working which contributed to the death or any accident resulting in the death, and any other relevant facts relevant to the circumstances of the death.
The purpose is not to apportion blame for the death in either the civil or criminal sense. A Fatal Accident Inquiry may be held in addition to any criminal or civil proceedings.
A mandatory Fatal Accident Inquiry will occur in relation to a death in custody or as a result of an accident in the course of employment.
The death will be reported to the Crown Office for the instruction of Crown Counsel once the investigation has been concluded.
Crown Counsel will instruct a prosecution where there is sufficient evidence of criminality and it is in the public interest to do so. A Fatal Accident Inquiry may follow upon a prosecution where the prosecution has not sufficiently dealt with relevant issues in connection with the death.
If criminal proceedings are not being initiated, a discretionary Fatal Accident Inquiry may be instructed by Crown Counsel if the circumstances give rise to serious public concern and it is in the public interest to do so.
Ministers in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland may set up inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005. However, Ministers in the devolved administrations cannot set up inquiries where the terms of reference would require the inquiry to determine any fact or make any recommendation that is not wholly or primarily concerned with a matter which is within their competence in accordance with the devolution settlement. A UK Minister may not set up an inquiry where the terms of reference would require the inquiry to determine any fact or make any recommendation which is wholly or primarily concerned with a devolved matter without first consulting the devolved administration. It is also possible for a joint inquiry to be set up by two administrations.
General enquiries: Cabinet Office, 22 Whitehall, London SW1A 2WH.
Contact: via feedback form.
[Terms and conditions, privacy and copyright] [Complaints procedure] [Document readers] [
RSS Feeds] [This website is speech enabled]