Victim Notification Scheme (VNS): independent review

Appendix E: Criminal proceedings statistics

The Review has found the following on page 13 of Scottish Government report on criminal proceedings in Scotland (2020-21).

Figures for 2020-21 show that the numbers in each custodial sentence length category decreased, reflecting the overall substantial drop in the total number of custodial sentences issued due to reduced court activity in the year 2020-21 as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.

The number of custodial sentence of "up to 3 months" decreased by 32% in the past year, from 2,554 in 2019-20 to 1,745 in 2020-21.

Custodial sentences of "over 3 months to 6 months" decreased by 37% in the past year, from 3,714 to 2,355.

There were 1,338 sentences of "over 6 months to 1 year" in 2020-21 which was a 35% decrease from 2,071 the previous year.

The number of custodial sentences "over 1 year to 2 years" has decreased by 29% over the past year from 1,603 to 1,132.

The number of custodial sentences of "2 years to under 4 years" has decreased by 40% from 628 in 2019-20 to 378 in 2020-21.

"4 years and over" has decreased by 50% over the past year from 486 to 241.

With respect to sentences in excess of 18 months (including life sentences), there were 1,019 in 2020-2021, a decrease of 40% from 1,710 in 2019-2020.

Recorded Crime In Scotland Between 2020-21 And 2021-22

Non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 12%, from 61,913 to 69,286. This was driven by a rise in Common assault (also up 12%), which makes up the clear majority (84%) of all Non-sexual crimes of violence recorded in 2021-22.

Sexual crimes increased by 15%, from 13,131 to 15,049. These crimes are now at the highest level seen since 1971, the first year for which comparable groups are available.^[20]

Criminal Proceedings In Scotland 2020-2021

Convictions for non-sexual crimes of violence decreased by 30% in the past year, from 2,159 in 2019-20 to 1,504 in 2020-21. The number of people convicted for homicide etc. fell by 41% from 81 in 2019-20 to 48 in 2020-21, and attempted murder and serious assault fell by 48% from 1,305 in 2019-20 to 679 in 2020-21.

The only increase for non-sexual crimes of violence over the past year was for crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, which came into effect for crimes committed on or after 1st April 2019. In 2020-21, 383 were convicted of these crimes, up by 81% from 212 in 2019-20.

There was a decrease of 33% in the number of convictions for sexual crimes, from 1,217 in 2019-20 to 817 in 2020-21.

The number of convictions for rape and attempted rape decreased by 40% from 130 in 2019-20 to 78 in 2020-21. The number of proceedings for these crimes decreased by 49% from 299 in 2019-20 to 152 in 2020-21. The conviction rate for rape and attempted rape has fluctuated year to year and was 51% in 2020-21.

The total number of convictions fell by 44% to 42,532 in 2020-21 (from 75,670 in 2019-20). Those resulting in a custodial sentence decreased by 35% (from 11,122 in 2019-20 to 7,224 in 2020-21). Custodial sentences represented 17% of sentences imposed for all convictions in 2020-21, higher than the proportion over the past decade, which has ranged between 13% and 16%.

The average length of custodial sentence for all crimes, excluding life sentences and Orders for Lifelong Restrictions, in 2020-21 was 329 days, which is 8% shorter than in 2019-20 (356 days).

The crime type with the longest average sentences (excluding life sentences) in 2020-21 was rape and attempted rape, which decreased slightly from 2,445 days in 2019-20 to 2,435 in 2020-21, which is the lowest since 2014-15.

Sentences of 3 to 6 months have been the most common sentence length since 2011-12, accounting for 33% of all custodial sentences in 2020-21.

The numbers of custodial sentences in all sentence length grouping categories decreased in the past year, reflecting the overall substantial drop in the total number of custodial sentences issued due to reduced court activity in the year 2020-21 as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns.

In 2020-21, 23% (9,741) of all convictions resulted in a main penalty of a communitysentence. This is a 42% decrease in the number from 16,661 in 2019-20, and the highest proportion of convictions where community sentences were imposed in the past ten years (up from 16% in 2011-12).^[21]