Additional
When a person is asked to give evidence for the prosecution in a criminal court, they receive a citation. This is an official document requiring the person to attend a court on a specific date. Citations may be sent to individuals who were a victim of the crime or who witnessed the crime, or to professional witnesses who give expert testimony to the court relating to their job.
HM Inspectorate of Prosecution and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (the organisations responsible for inspecting the prosecution and police services) are inspecting how prosecution witnesses are cited to give evidence in the sheriff court. We want to know how well the citation process works and how it feels to be cited. We want to know whether the citation process can be improved, especially whether it can be modernised or made more efficient. More information about our inspection can be found in our Terms of Reference
If you have received a citation in the last three years, we’d like to hear about your views and experiences. If you are the parent or guardian of a child witness who has received a citation, you are welcome to fill out the survey in relation to your child’s experience of being cited.
The survey should take 5 to 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for responses is 5.00pm on Friday, 4 April 2025.
Complete the survey
If you are a police officer, a member of police staff, or are employed by the Scottish Police Authority, and have been cited to give evidence in your professional capacity, a separate survey is available for you to complete on the Police Scotland intranet.
Some witnesses may be cited to give evidence in more than one case. The survey will ask you to think about a recent case you were involved in, although there is also an opportunity at the end to tell us more generally about all your experiences of being cited.
Your response to the survey is anonymous. We do not ask for your name or any personal details. All the information gathered will be used to help us assess how well the citation process works.
If you require assistance in completing the survey or require the survey in a different language, please contact us. If you have any questions about the survey or our inspection, or if you would like to provide the inspection team with more information, please email IPS@gov.scot