News In Focus
2 November 2007
Official opening for prosecution college
The new Scottish Prosecution College which will provide training to prosecutors and prosecution staff across Scotland was officially opened in Glasgow today.
The college at Legal House at 101 Gorbals Street, is a dedicated training centre, providing state of the art facilities for staff in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
It can cater for up to 70 staff and includes a number of specifically designed features such as a mock court room with audio visual links to separate interview rooms to enable legal staff to be trained in advocacy skills and the presentation of evidence via CCTV link.
The training and organisational development division relocated to their new base at the Scottish Prosecution College from Edinburgh on 3 September.
The new college represents an investment of £720,000 and nine members of COPFS staff are based at the college permanently
Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini said: "This comprehensive, custom built facility will provide an excellent learning environment, which will ensure our staff are up to date with the latest changes in the law and have the opportunity to practice and hone their advocacy skills.
"This college should assist us to develop specialisms and ensure we have professionally equipped prosecutors able to deal with increasingly complex, serious and organised crime."
Nicky Patrick, head of training and development for COPFS, said: "The college is already having a significant impact on the capacity of the prosecution service to deliver major training programmes.
"In this financial year, the college will play a major role in the delivery of training for Summary Justice Reform and the Review of Sexual Offences, both of which will be delivered by a combination of e-learning and classroom based learning."