Fonds AD22 - Procurator Fiscal Records

Criminal registers, 1900-1904, 1917-1960; Draft monthly reports, 1896-1915; Accounts of expense of reported and unreported cases, 1868-1928; Miscellaneous financial papers, 1889-1929; Miscellaneous indictments, 1880-c 1945; Miscellaneous commissions and deputations by procurators fiscal, 1900-1969; Miscellaneous papers, 1893-1926.

Procurator fiscals are the public prosecutors in Scotland. They, rather than the police, prosecute all crimes appearing in district and sheriff courts on behalf of the crown. More serious crimes such as murder which appear in the High Court of Justiciary are dealt with by special advocates depute. The fiscals are also responsible for investigating crimes but, except in serious cases, this is usually left to the police. As there is no coroner in Scotland the Procurator Fiscal Service also investigates suspicious deaths and presents the evidence to a sheriff. The system dates back to late medieval times when the Procurator Fiscal was an agent who collected fines from offenders which were then paid to the Sheriff's treasury. The Procurator Fiscal Service is now part of the Crown Office department of the Scottish Executive. The organisation of the service is based around the six sheriffdoms of Scotland, each is headed by a Regional Procurator Fiscal who is in charge of a number of procurator fiscals and their assistants and deputes.Shetland is part of the Grampian, Highland and Islands region. The Procurator Fiscal records are held in the Shetland Archives under charge and superintendence of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. They comprise the fiscals' administrative and financial records; extensive precognitions, notes concerning alleged crimes; and police reports to the fiscals.