By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
Police officers are hand-delivering more than 400 court citations every day in Scotland in a process described as “absolutely appalling” by the head of the force’s watchdog.
It is estimated that up to 280,000 hours are spent each year by cops carrying out this task – the equivalent workload of up to 164 full-time officers.
Chief Inspector of Constabulary Craig Naylor described the procedure as “absolutely off-the-scale inefficient”.
The figures were uncovered during a joint review into how prosecution witnesses are cited to give evidence in the sheriff court, carried out by HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland (IPS) and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).
The review identified an “antiquated” and “not environmentally sustainable” system which relies on paper and postage.
Out of around 400,000 annual citations issued in Scotland, 154,000 were served by police officers between October 2023 and 2024, an average of 422 per day. Citations that are not hand-delivered are sent out by second-class post.
Naylor told 1919 both he and Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland, Deborah O’Brien Demick, were shocked by the workload this creates for already overstretched officers.
“If it’s in a city centre, it might not be too far to travel, but if you’re sitting in the Western Isles or some of the more remote parts of Scotland, that could be quite a journey from a police station to some other place,” he said.
“When you look at 154,000, I think it’s just under 50 per cent of the citations that are delivered are delivered by police officers. That to both of us was shocking.
“That information was absolutely appalling. There is a need to get the citations served, and served efficiently, but the way we are doing it just now is absolutely off-the-scale inefficient.”
The report calls for better use of digital technology across the “inefficient and largely outdated” citation process and recommends the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) should use email or another electronic method as the principal means of citing all witnesses.
“There is a need to get the citations served, and served efficiently, but the way we are doing it just now is absolutely off-the-scale inefficient”
Craig Naylor, Chief Inspector of Constabulary
By law, it has been possible to cite witnesses by email for 19 years. But in Scotland it has only been used for police officers, despite being routinely used for civilian witnesses in other parts of the UK.
O’Brien Demick said: “The important messaging is that need to move into the modern era.
“You get a text message or an email from everyone from your dentist to your doctor to your hairdresser to HMRC, so there is a compelling case for criminal justice partners to be able to do that.”
She added: “It’s such a fundamental part of the criminal justice system, of the entirety of the process.
“Police can’t submit a case to COPFS without sufficiency of evidence, the Crown Office then can’t prosecute the case without its witnesses, yet it’s not seemingly been considered, and there’s quite a swell of evidence that supports that assertion throughout the course of our inspection.”
The wide-ranging report also looked at the impact on individuals of being cited to court, examining everything from the method of citation delivery to poor communication, cancelled cases and chaotic practices around applying for an exemption.
During 2024/25, 48,360 summary and 5,919 solemn cases called for trial at sheriff courts across Scotland, with 398,714 witness citations issued.
However, evidence was led in only 13 per cent of summary and 21 per cent of solemn cases, meaning many witnesses will have been cited to give evidence and attend the sheriff court for trials that ultimately did not proceed.
“Police officers have particular difficulty when the citation process is as flawed as it is. There’s disruption to rest and recovery, disruption to their daily life, financial loss potentially relating to child care, stress, anxiety, burnout,” explained O’Brien Demick.
“But we saw that mirrored as well from civilian witnesses who are frightened, they don’t know what to expect, they say communication is poor from COPFS, their daily lives are disrupted, and we found that the citation process is not bespoke or trauma-informed enough for any witnesses, and that the current citation content is inadequate.
“It’s a very formal legal document which is quite threatening and threatens arrest, so one of our key recommendations is that we should move away from that form of citing and should mirror what happens in jurisdictions across the UK, insofar as there should be a notice letter provided to witnesses, which seems to work really well.”
The report also highlighted the financial burden associated with the current system. Police Scotland reported that, during the 2024/25 financial year, £2,663,643 was spent on overtime for officers attending sheriff courts.
Deborah O’Brien Demick, Chief Inspector of Prosecution
In the year up to September 2025, police witnesses did not give evidence in three quarters of cases in which overtime was claimed.
The joint inspection also found a “lack of oversight, leadership, governance, strategy and monitoring” of the citation process across both Police Scotland and COPFS.
It said “systemic failings” included Police Scotland rarely obtaining witness availability when taking witness statements, which led to unsuitable court dates being set. When witnesses did provide their availability, this was rarely considered when trial dates were being decided.
There was also a failure by COPFS to deal with witness excusal requests effectively, which the report said was “extremely impactful on all witnesses”, including police officers who may be cited to give evidence in court when on rest days, nightshifts or annual leave.
Inspectors were told of cases where citations were sent to witnesses who had died – despite COPFS having previously been informed of the deaths.
They also found evidence of witnesses receiving as many as six citations to appear at court on different dates to do with the same case.
The report made 50 recommendations for improvement, including that the Scottish Government, COPFS, Police Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) develop an integrated, digital trial scheduling solution that takes account of all witness availability.
It pointed to the success of an algorithm used by criminal justice counterparts in Northern Ireland which generates three mutually available dates for all witnesses to attend court.
It said until such a digital solution is in operation, COPFS and Police Scotland should ensure that information is continuously gathered on all witness availability and provided to SCTS in a manner that allows effective trial scheduling.
The report recommended mandatory training for both police officers and COPFS staff that gives a comprehensive understanding of the citation process, and the impact of unsuccessful citation on the criminal justice system.
The report also acknowledged that the rollout of the new summary case management system to courts across Scotland is helping to reduce the number of trials being set that do not go ahead, with the knock-on effect of reducing the number of witness citations being issued.
An evaluation found that during a 19-month pilot period of summary case management across five court areas, an estimated 18,000 witnesses were not cited or recited due to summary case management, of which 11,000 were police witnesses.
The evaluation further estimated that had summary case management been in place nationally for the same period, 89,000 witnesses would not have been cited or recited, of which 50,000 would have been police witnesses.
The COPFS said it welcomed the report.
A spokesperson said: “The recommendations of this review will be considered alongside our partners Police Scotland.
“The report recognises improvements made recently, but we acknowledge that there is more to be done to further modernise and improve the experiences of people affected by crime, along with police and professional witnesses.
“Transformative work underway across our service will drive improvements.
“As Scotland’s prosecutors, we are committed to improving witnesses’ experiences as part of a progressive justice system. The inspection report will assist us in delivering further improvements for victims and witnesses.”
Police Scotland also welcomed the report.
A spokesperson said: “We continue to work with our criminal justice partners to drive system-wide improvements that reduce unnecessary demand and lead to better experiences for victims and witnesses.
“We are also a partner in the judicially-led Summary Case Management initiative which, due to early disclosure and resolution of summary cases, has seen significant reductions in police and public citations issued.
“While the process for and issuing of citations remains with COPFS, we recognise there is an important role for policing in ensuring an effective and efficient process.
“The recommendations contained within this joint review will be carefully considered and will inform ongoing collaboration with criminal justice partners.”