CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN SCOTLAND 2014-15

Summary of offences dealt with by courts, sentencing outcomes and characteristics of convicted offenders. Additional information on non-court penalties issued by the Police and Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.


Table 1: Summary of known action in the Scottish Criminal Justice System, 2005-06 to 2014-15

 

Thousands

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

2011-12

2012-13

2013-14

2014-15

Crimes and offences recorded by the police

Crimes

418

419

386

377

338

323

314

273

270

256

Offences1

600

607

572

560

564

530

544

544

501

379

Crimes and offences cleared up by the police

Crimes

191

199

185

185

167

157

155

140

139

129

Offences1

558

566

534

519

523

491

508

510

472

351

Police disposals

Anti-social behaviour fixed penalty notices

n/a

n/a

n/a

48

61

54

54

55

56

43

Formal adult warnings

n/a

n/a

n/a

8

8

8

8

8

7

5

Crimes and offences dealt with by:

Offence referrals to Reporter to Children's Panel2

37

34

30

25

21

16

12

8

7

7

Procurator Fiscal action

Total criminal reports received (COPFS cases)

320

316

307

285

276

266

276

281

294

244

Fiscal fines (CHS people)3,4

n/a

n/a

n/a

38

36

36

42

48

47

36

Fiscal fines (COPFS cases)4,5

18

21

19

37

34

33

41

46

47

35

Fiscal fixed penalties (CHS people)3

n/a

n/a

n/a

18

19

20

21

22

23

15

Fiscal fixed penalties (COPFS cases)5

10

14

15

20

18

20

21

22

24

15

Compensation orders (CHS people)4,5

n/a

n/a

n/a

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

Compensation orders (COPFS cases)3,5

n/a

n/a

n/a

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (CHS people)3,4

n/a

n/a

n/a

1

2

2

3

2

2

2

Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (COPFS cases)4,5

n/a

n/a

n/a

1

2

2

3

2

2

2

Fiscal warnings (COPFS cases)4

33

27

25

15

14

13

12

13

8

8

No action (COPFS cases)4

49

44

44

32

30

29

32

35

28

27

Other non-court disposals6

11

12

10

9

8

8

8

10

13

13

People proceeded against in court

142

149

149

141

136

131

125

117

122

123

1. Since 2013-14, not all offence categories in recorded crime statistics are comparable with previous years data. Please see Annex 2 of the Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2014-15 publication for further information.

2. A referral may relate to more than one offence. Figures exclude cases jointly referred to the Children’s Reporter and the Procurator Fiscal. These types of cases are included in the Procurator Fiscal action totals. This change has been applied retrospectively to historical data.

3. Number of people with main penalty as recorded on the Police Scotland's Criminal History System (CHS). The combined number of fiscal fines and fixed penalties is underestimated by around 2,700 in 2008-09 and 500 in 2009-10.

4. Figures relate to cases which were closed as offer paid/accepted/deemed accepted.

5. Number of cases of highest disposal as recorded on the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) information system.

6. Includes cases diverted from prosecution by the COPFS, e.g. to the Children's Reporter, cases transferred within COPFS and cases rolled up with other ongoing cases.

Contact

Email: Gillian Diggins

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