Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services Data Report - March 2021
Monthly data report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the justice system in Scotland, including information from Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Prison Service.
Criminal Registered & Scheduled Trials
Since lockdown, there have been 76,660 criminal registrations in the courts. 406 of these registrations have been COVID-19 related (0.5%).
In March 2021, most types of court registration were lower than (but returning to) 2019-20 averages:
- Indictments registered in the High Court were 6% higher than the 19-20 average.
- Indictments registered in the Sheriff court (solemn cases) were 10% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Complaints (summary cases) registered in the Sheriff Court were 9% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Complaints registered in the JP court were 26% lower than the 19-20 average.
| Cases Registered | 19-20 monthly average | March 2021 | Change from 19-20 monthly average | Outstanding (scheduled) trials | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2020 | March 2021 | ||||
| Indictments | |||||
| High Court | 85 | 90 | +5 (+6%) | 390 | 267 |
| Sheriff Court | 454 | 410 | -44 (-10%) | 497 | 1,329 |
| Complaints | |||||
| Sheriff Court | 5,478 | 5,000 | -478 (-9%) | 13,971 | 30,645 |
| JP Court | 2,799 | 2,060 | -739 (-26%) | 3,497 | 5,560 |
At the end of March 2021 there were 37,801 trials outstanding. This compares to 18,355 at the end of 2019-20. In addition, SCTS have forecast that there are another 8,295 cases in the system which are likely to come to trial but have not yet had a trial date set (see SCTS published monthly criminal statistics for more details).
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
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