Governance

Executive board

The Executive Board provides strategic leadership to COPFS and is collectively responsible for delivering COPFS’s vision, aim and objectives.

The Executive Board’s role is the provision of advice, challenge, support and assurance to the Crown Agent. The Board focuses on a range of areas including:

• performance and outcomes
• people and capability
• finance and risk
• organisational efficiency
• corporate wellbeing

The Board is chaired by the Crown Agent and includes senior members of staff and non-executive directors.

Reporting to the Board are committees focusing on resource management, business improvement, operational performance, and audit and risk.

Publication of board minutes and associated papers

We publish the minutes of our Executive Board and committee meetings. 

You can view meeting minutes in our publications area. 

Executive Board membership 

The current members of the COPFS Executive Board are: 

• John T Logue, Crown Agent
• Anthony McGeehan, Deputy Crown Agent, Operational Support
• Lindsey Miller, Deputy Crown Agent
• Stephen McGowan, Deputy Crown Agent, Serious Casework
• Jennifer Harrower, Deputy Crown Agent, Local Court
• Keith Dargie, Head of Business Services
• Marlene Anderson, Director of Finance and Procurement
• Sarah Carter, Director of Human Resources
• Annie Gunner Logan, Non executive director
• Vanessa Davies, Non executive director
• David Watt, Non executive director

Our functions

• High Court
• Specialist Casework
• Local Court
• Operational Support

High Court

The High Court function investigates and prosecutes the most serious crimes. These include murder, sexual offences, and cold cases.

Specialist Casework

Teams in Specialist Casework investigate and prosecute cases that need special knowledge or experience. Examples include environmental crime, organised crime, the investigation of sudden or unexplained deaths, and appeals.

Serious Casework also includes High Court teams. The most serious crimes in Scotland are dealt with by the High Court. These include murder, sexual offences, and cold cases.

Local Court

The Local Court function prosecutes cases in Justice of the Peace and Sheriff Courts.

Local Court teams work in offices across Scotland. Offices are grouped into six Sheriffdoms:

• Glasgow and Strathkelvin
• Grampian, Highland and Islands
• Lothian and Borders
• North Strathclyde
• South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway
• Tayside, Central and Fife

A specialist national team in Local Court makes initial decisions in all summary crimes reported to COPFS.

Operational Support

Teams in Operational Support complete essential business tasks. The function’s work is divided into two areas. Policy and Engagement includes Media Relations, Policy and our Enquiry Point. The Business Services teams include Finance, HR, and IT.

Corporate structure

You can view our detailed corporate structure online. As of June 2023, this is our anticipated structure from September 2023 onwards. Changes will be taking place to move to this structure during Summer 2023.