Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2022-23

3. Acquittals by crime type

(Table 2)

When an accused person is found not guilty of a charge, or the charge is not proven, this is called an ‘acquittal’.

High-level summary

Acquittals by crime type

(Table 2)

• In 2022-23, 4% of people were acquitted on a ‘not guilty’ verdict, and 1% were acquitted on a ‘not proven’ verdict.
• 8% either had a plea of ‘not guilty’ accepted or their case was deserted by the prosecution or the Court.
• These proportions are broadly unchanged over the last five years.
• The highest rate of acquittal was seen for rape and attempted rape, where 45% or 155 of the 345 people proceeded against were acquitted
• 31% of the people proceeded against for sexual assault were acquitted (181 out of 585)
• The highest rate of acquittal for non-sexual crimes of violence was for murder and culpable homicide (20% or 11 out of 55 people proceeded against)

Chart 4. Rape & attempted rape and Sexual assault have the highest acquittal rates.

Crime types with the highest acquittal rates (not guilty and not proven) in Scottish courts in 2022-23.

Chart 4 shows the crime types with the highest acquittal rates in comparison with the overall rate of 6% in 2022-23.