Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2012-13

2. Key Points for 2012-13

Further explanatory detail is provided in the commentary in Section 3.

2.1. Court proceedings and convictions (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4a and Chart 2)

2.1.1. A total of 116,623 people were proceeded against in court in 2012-13, a decrease of 7 per cent on 2011-12. This is the lowest number seen since 2003-04 as well as the largest annual fall observed since 2003-04 (the period covered in this bulletin).

2.1.2. The total number of people convicted fell by 7 per cent to 100,964 in the one year to 2012-13. Eighty-seven per cent of people proceeded against in court had at least one charge proved or a guilty plea accepted, the same proportion as in 2011-12.

2.1.3. In the one year to 2012-13 the number of people convicted fell for nearly all crime groups excluding sexual crimes, which saw an 11 per cent increase overall (from 783 to 866). Higher numbers of sexual offences may be explained by a widening of the definition of rape in the new Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009, which came into force in December 2010.

2.1.4. Convictions for all crimes of violence (excluding homicide) saw decreases. Convictions for homicide remained at around the same figure as in 2011-12 with 113 convictions in 2012-13.

2.1.5. In the one year to 2012-13, the number of people convicted increased for all crime types within the group sexual crimes (excluding prostitution offences). The number of convictions for rape and attempted rape increased by 57 per cent (from 49 to 77 in 2012-13), sexual assault by 37 per cent (from 150 to 206) and other sexual crimes rose by 15 per cent (from 384 to 441).

2.2. Court sentences (Tables 7 and 10(c))

2.2.1. The use of all main penalties (excluding community sentences) fell in the year to 2012-13. Financial penalties continue to account for the majority (53 per cent or 53,423) of penalties though this proportion has fallen since 2003-04 as custodial and community sentences account for an increasing proportion of the total penalties given.

2.2.2. The number of convictions resulting in a custodial sentence decreased by 7 per cent in the year to 2012-13 (14,758) - falling at the same rate as the overall fall in convictions in the year to 2012-13. Custodial sentences account for 15 per cent of all penalties in 2012-13 increasing by 3 percentage points from 2003-04.

2.2.3. In the year to 2012-13 the number of short sentences (6 months or less) fell by 8 per cent (from 10,679 to 9,804), falling faster than the overall rate in convictions. This is mainly driven by an 11 per cent decrease in sentences of 4 to 6 months (from 6,152 to 5,470) while sentences of length 1 to 3 months fell by 4 per cent (from 4,527 to 4,334).

2.2.4. The average length of custodial sentences in 2012-13 was greater than 9 months (283 days), around the same as it was in 2011-12 and 10 per cent longer than the average custodial sentence in 2003-04. The crime types with the longest average sentences in 2012-13 were homicide (which increased by 7 per cent to 2,367 days (nearly six and a half years)) and rape and attempted rape (which increased 9 per cent to 2,414 days (over six and a half years)).

2.2.5. One in every six (or 17 per cent of) convictions in 2012-13 resulted in a community sentence, increasing from 11 per cent of the total in 2003-04. The total number of community sentences increased by 2 per cent in the year to 2012-13 (from 16,934 to 17,254). Community payback orders make up the vast majority of community sentences (86 per cent or 14,924).

2.3. Characteristics of offenders convicted in court (Tables 6(a), 6(b), 8(c), 11 and 12)

2.3.1. The total number of convictions fell for offenders of all ages in the one year to 2012-13. The largest decreases were seen in people aged under 21 where numbers fell at much faster rates than the overall conviction rate. Convictions of males aged under 21 fell by 21 per cent (to 10,351 in 2012-13) while convictions for females aged under 21 fell by 17 per cent (to 1,615). These are the largest annual decreases that these age-sex groups have seen since 2003-04, the time period covered in this bulletin.

2.3.2. The peak rates of convictions for males per 1,000 population in 2012-13 were for males aged 21 to 25 and 26 to 30 groups with 87 and 86 convictions per 1,000 population, respectively. For the first time since 2003-04, in 2011-12, the rate of convictions per 1,000 population for males aged 18 and 19 fell below that of older males with the gap widening in 2012-13. There were 71 and 81 convictions per 1,000 population for males aged 18 and 19, respectively.

2.4. Bail and undertakings (Tables 13, 17 and 18)

2.4.1. The total number of bail orders made by Scottish courts in 2012-13 was 44,038, falling by 7 per cent in the year to 2012-13 (from 47,607 to 44,038). This decrease is in line with the fall in volumes of court proceedings, overall. In 2012-13, the total number of people released on an undertaking to appear in court was 22,819, falling by 13 per cent in the year to 2012-13.

2.4.2. Other than committing an offence while on bail, there were 8,438 other bail-related offences in 2012-13 (e.g. breach of bail conditions, such as failure to appear in court after being granted bail), a decrease of 5 per cent on 2011-12. The number of bail-related offences as a percentage of bail orders granted remained at 19 per cent.

2.5. Non-Court Disposals (Tables 19 to 28)

2.5.1. Overall the use of police disposals increased by 2 per cent to 68,678 in 2012-13. This is driven by the use of anti-social behaviour fixed penalty notices (ASBFPNs) which account for 80 per cent of all police disposals in 2012-13. In 2012-13, 54,665 ASBFPNs were issued to people as a main penalty, increasing by 2 per cent from 2011-12.

2.5.2. In 2012-13, the use of disposals from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) increased by 8 per cent (from 67,341 to 72,840). Two thirds (66 per cent) of COPFS disposals in 2012-13 were fiscal fines; 47,819 people were issued with a fiscal fine as a main penalty (up 13 per cent from 2011-12), and 21,638 people were issued a fiscal fixed penalty (up 3 per cent).

2.5.3. Two-thirds (64 per cent) of fiscal fines in 2012-13 were issued to males, a third (35 per cent) of which were issued for drug offences. Of the 17,360 fiscal fines issued to females, the most common offence for which they were given were Communications Act offences (mainly TV licensing offences) - accounting for 66 per cent of the total number of fiscal fines given to females.