CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN SCOTLAND 2014-15

1. Headlines on total persons proceeded against and convictions

(Tables 1 and 2)

Unless otherwise stated, references in this bulletin to the crime or offence group for which a person is proceeded against or convicted relate to the main charge involved. The main charge is the crime or offence receiving the severest penalty if one or more charges are proved in a single proceeding (as defined in Annex C). The final column of Table 4(a) provides counts of individual offences with a charge proved regardless of whether or not they were the main offence involved. Please note that where a person is subject to two (or more) separate proceedings, they will be counted two (or more) times in the figures presented in this bulletin.

A total of 123,242 people were proceeded against in court in 2014-15, a rise of one per cent on 2013-14 (121,753 proceedings). This is the second consecutive annual increase in proceedings, in contrast to the general downward trend of the previous six years (from 2006-07 to 2012-13).

A total of 106,507 people had a charge proved in 2014-15, a rise of less than one per cent on levels in 2013-14 (105,626). There has been a downward trend in convictions over the last ten years, with levels in 2014-15 around 21 per cent lower than the peak of 134,413 convictions in 2006-07.

Chart 3: Number people proceeded against and those with a charge proved