New Police Investigations and Review Commissioner announced

Ms Paton, who is currently His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland, will take up her role as Commissioner on 1 April 2025, for a five-year period.

She will succeed our current Commissioner, Michelle Macleod CBE, who will retire after serving for almost six years in the role.

Ms Paton has many years’ experience of scrutinising and supporting improvement in public services, particularly in the justice sector.

She has a background in human rights law with a particular focus on the rights of those involved in the criminal justice system and the rights of children and young people.

Ms Paton has served as HM Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland since 2019, inspecting the service delivered by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, including how it manages criminal allegations against the police and the quality of the service provided to victims and witnesses.

Previously, Ms Paton was involved in the independent inspection of policing and places of detention, including prisons and police custody.

The remit of PIRC is to uphold public confidence in policing in Scotland.

Our purpose is to provide independent oversight and investigate incidents involving all policing bodies and we can also review the way they handle complaints from the public.

The policing bodies we can investigate or review are the Police Service of Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), British Transport Police (BTP), British Transport Authority, National Crime Agency (NCA), Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC), Civil Nuclear Authority, Ministry of Defence Police (MDP), His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and UK Visas and Immigration Service.