Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2019-20
A total of 85,726 people were proceeded against in Scottish criminal courts in 2019-20, a fall of 4% from 89,725 proceedings in 2018-19 The number of convictions was 75,251 in 2019-20, which is also a fall of 4% from 78,488 in 2018-19. This continues the general downward trend of the last ten years,
Table 1 Summary of known action in the Scottish Criminal Justice System, 2010-11 to 2019-20
| Thousands | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
| Crimes and offences recorded by the police | ||||||||||
| Crimes | 323 | 314 | 273 | 270 | 256 | 246 | 239 | 245 | 246 | 247 |
| Offences[1] | 501 | 379 | 339 | 289 | 264 | 248 | 251 | |||
| Crimes and offences cleared up by the police | ||||||||||
| Crimes | 157 | 155 | 140 | 139 | 129 | 127 | 119 | 121 | 126 | 127 |
| Offences[1] | 472 | 351 | 308 | 254 | 222 | 206 | 207 | |||
| Police disposals | ||||||||||
| Anti-social behaviour fixed penalty notices | 54 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 43 | 29 | 15 | 11 | 9 | 7 |
| Formal adult warnings | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | * | * | * | * |
| Recorded Police Warnings | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 20 | 17 | 22 | 22 |
| Early & Effective Interventions and Restorative Justice Warnings | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Children's Panel referrals | ||||||||||
| Offence referrals to Reporter to Children's Panel[2] | 16 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Procurator Fiscal action | ||||||||||
| Total criminal reports received (COPFS cases) | 266 | 276 | 281 | 294 | 244 | 226 | 196 | 178 | 171 | 170 |
| Fiscal fines (CHS people)[3,4] | 36 | 42 | 48 | 47 | 36 | 34 | 22 | 23 | 18 | 18 |
| Fiscal fines (COPFS cases)[4,5] | 33 | 41 | 46 | 47 | 35 | 33 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 18 |
| Fiscal fixed penalties (CHS people)[3] | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Fiscal fixed penalties (COPFS cases)[5] | 20 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Compensation orders (CHS people)[3] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Compensation orders (COPFS cases)[5] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (CHS people)[3,4] | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (COPFS cases)[4,5] | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Fiscal warnings (COPFS cases)[4,5] | 13 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| No action (COPFS cases)[4,5] | 29 | 32 | 35 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 16 |
| Other non-court disposals6 (COPFS cases) | 8 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| People proceeded against in court | 131 | 125 | 117 | 122 | 123 | 117 | 107 | 96 | 90 | 86 |
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 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 Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal (COPFS) action totals.
3. Number of people with main penalty as recorded on the Police Scotland's Criminal History System (CHS).
4. Figures relate to cases which were closed as offer paid/accepted/deemed accepted.
5. Number of cases of highest disposal as recorded on COPFS information system.
6. Includes cases diverted from prosecution by COPFS, e.g. to the Children's Reporter, cases transferred within COPFS and cases rolled up with other ongoing cases.Table 2(a) People proceeded against in court by main crime/offence and outcome of court proceedings, 2019-201
Contact
Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot
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