Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Not Upheld Reference 201507816 Sector Scottish Government and Devolved Administration Category communication staff attitude and confidentiality Decided 01 January 2017

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Full decision

Summary

Ms C was involved with a court case that was not continued by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), and complained about this to them. Ms C then complained to us that COPFS ignored her phone calls and that their communication with her was unreasonable, specifically that two letters from COPFS were contradictory.

We found that Ms C had not complained to COPFS about all of the matters she brought to us. We also found that COPFS no longer had recordings of phone calls as they were kept for a limited time. In addition, it was not within our jurisdiction to determine whether COPFS' letters were or were not accurate as a matter of law and, therefore, we could not determine whether they were contradictory in that respect. In the circumstances, we could not reach findings on Ms C's complaints and we could not uphold them.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201507816 as a PDF (11.01 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

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