The Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini QC has today said that it is in the public interest to publish the Crown Office policy towards drink driving offences, in the light of a new range of offences.

The letter was sent to the justice spokesmen of the Scottish Parliament, and confirms that there will now be a presumption that new drink driving offences should be subject to a Sheriff Court jury trial under solemn procedure.

The full text of the letter  letter reads:

"As you may be aware, two new offences of causing death by driving are introduced into the Road Traffic Act 1988 by the Road Safety Act 2006 with effect from today. These offences are:
* Causing Death by Careless, or Inconsiderate, Driving (section 2B); and
* Causing Death by Driving: Unlicensed, Disqualified, or Uninsured Drivers (section 3ZB).

While it is often not appropriate to publish the detail of prosecution policies, the nature of the new offences and the publication of similar prosecution policies in the past means that I have decided it would be in the public interest to outline the policy approach of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in relation to the prosecution of these new offences and other offences involving causing death by driving.

COPFS recognises the devastating effect that road traffic offences which cause the death of another person have on the friends and families of victims. These offences are investigated with the highest priority. It is for this reason that all cases relating to a fatal road traffic incident are referred to Senior Crown Counsel for instruction on the action to be taken.

I have decided that there will be a presumption that the new offences under sections 2B and 3ZB of the Road Traffic Act 1988 will be prosecuted on indictment before a jury in the Sheriff Court. This reflects the seriousness of the offences and the fact that the maximum sentence can be imposed by a Sheriff.

Summary proceedings may be taken in circumstances where culpability is low and where there are mitigating circumstances. Clear instructions and guidance have been issued to Procurators Fiscal in relation to this new policy.

My predecessor announced in January of 2003 a presumption that offences under sections 1 and 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, which have higher maximum penalties, will be prosecuted in the High Court of Justiciary and that prosecutions in the Sheriff Court will take place only where there are particular circumstances which appear to mitigate the offence. We continue to operate this policy.

A COPFS Policy Statement on Causing Death by Driving is attached and will be made publicly available on the COPFS website at http://www.copfs.gov.uk/."