Hearings in Scottish courts - ethnicity of individuals: analysis

4 Conclusions

This paper has examined courts data on the ethnicity of individuals who were proceeded against and sentenced from April 2016 to February 2023. As noted, there are difficulties in accurately comparing the ethnicity of people accused in court with the general population which makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Overall, the analysis indicates there is a difference between ethnic groups in terms of appearances and outcomes in court hearings. However, caution should be taken when interpreting the results as there are a range of possible explanations for the differences and further analysis is required to determine what the sources of these differences might be.

Bearing in mind the lack of more recent census population data, it is likely that the proportion of individuals in the combined African, Caribbean or Black, White Minority Ethnic, and "Other" ethnic groups was higher amongst accused individuals than in the general population. Differences are also observed in the proportion of people from certain ethnic groups being convicted. White Scottish/White Other British and White Minority Ethnic individuals appear more likely to receive a guilty verdict than individuals from other ethnic groups.

The analysis suggests that custodial sentences were given to White Scottish/White Other British individuals in higher proportion than overall convictions but, if they did receive a custodial sentence, individuals from minority ethnic groups were likely to receive a longer sentence than White Scottish/White Other British individuals. Including all convictions, White Scottish/White Other British individuals were, on average, sentenced to prison for longer than individuals of all other ethnic groups. This is due to the higher likelihood of imprisonment for the White Scottish/White Other British ethnic group.