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:''Scottish Charities Office redirects here; for the successor body (since 2003), see Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.'' The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ((スコットランド・ゲール語:Oifis a' Chrùin agus Seirbheis Neach-casaid a' Chrùin), ) is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Her Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the Scottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, along with the area Procurators fiscal. In Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken by the Crown. Private prosecutions are extremely rare. The Service's responsibilities extend to the whole of Scotland, and include: * Investigation and prosecution of criminal offences * Investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths * The investigation and prosecution of criminal conduct by the police * Assessment and possession of bona vacantia * Assessment and possession of treasure trove The Lord Advocate is assisted by the Solicitor General for Scotland, both Law Officers. The day-to-day running of the Service is done by the Crown Agent & Chief Executive and a management board who are based in the department's headquarters in Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Service employs both civil servants who carry out administrative and other duties and solicitors and advocates who represent the Crown in Court. ==History== The history of the Lord Advocate, and the resulting department of the Crown Office, is somewhat obscure. There are references on record to a king's procurator-fiscal in 1434 and 1457, and a queen's advocate in 1462. An office of king's advocate dates from 1478 but between 1478 and 1494 there are references to "advocates" (unnamed) and it is only from 1494 that one can be sure that there was a single king's advocate as the normal representative of the king in treason trials and in civil litigation. The office thus dates back to Medieval times, with the earliest Lord Advocate being John Ross of Montgrenan whom the King appointed as his commissioner at a hearing in Stirling in 1476, then as procurator for another case in Edinburgh in the following year.〔History of the Office of the Lord Advocate. http://www.copfs.gov.uk/News/Historical/HistOffLordAdv〕 The history of the procurator fiscal is similarly difficult to set down with exactness, though the role has developed significantly over time. The first document reference appears in the Records of the Parliament of Scotland for 22 August 1584, naming several procurators fiscal in Edinburgh. The fiscal was an officer appointed by, and accountable to, the Sheriff, who by the 18th Century was responsible for most prosecutions in local areas. By the nineteenth century advocates depute were first appointed, to assist him in conducting cases in the High Court of Justiciary and the Crown Office was first established. This became the centre of the prosecution system, and it was to the Lord Advocate now to whom the procurators fiscal were responsible, evidenced by the "Book of Regulations" issued by him to procurators fiscal providing instructions about how to conduct their business.〔Historical development of the Office of Procurator Fiscal. http://www.copfs.gov.uk/News/Historical/HistDevPF〕 The Book of Regulations is still used today in providing the framework for local prosecution in Scotland.〔Book of Regulations. http://www.copfs.gov.uk/FOI/Regulations〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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