1. Key Points

This is an experimental bulletin produced by the Scottish Government that assesses an accused person’s criminal justice journey time from offence date to case conclusion or verdict.   The bulletin also provides insights about the duration of different stages of the justice journey. The bulletin uses two datasets supplied by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) covering the time period April 2017 to March 2024.

The data contained in this bulletin allow us to make observations about the average length of journey times in general, as well as how these journey times have changed over time.  In addition to information provided in previous editions of the bulletin, new information is provided in this bulletin on the date an offence is reported to police (police known date) and the date an offence is reported to COPFS. This additional information, allows for the overall journey time to be broken down into stages as well as the identification of historical offences.

In general the analysis shows that in 2023-24:

• The percentage of accused whose case was closed by COPFS or who got a verdict in Scottish criminal courts within one year of the offence date increased when compared to 2022-23.
• Median journey times for accused persons with a COPFS No action marking were 28 days longer than for accused persons marked for direct measures (e.g. a warning letter or a fiscal fine).
• Median journey times for accused persons in solemn cases are longer than those for accused in summary cases.  Median journey times in 2023-24 were around 2 years 10 months in High court and 1 year 7 months in Sheriff solemn courts.  This compares to around 8 months in Sheriff summary and 9 months JP courts.
• Overall median journey times decreased compared to 2022-23, by 44 days in High Court, 54 days in Sheriff summary court and 17 days in JP court. Median journey times in Sheriff solemn court increased by 35 days in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23.
• Median offence to verdict times for accused persons with a non-appearance warrant were higher than for those without non-appearance warrants; journey times for accused persons with non-appearance warrants were around 8 months longer than those without a non-appearance warrant.
• The time associated with different parts of an accused person’s journey in the justice system varies depending on the type of court their case is allocated to. 
• In solemn courts, the main drivers of the offence to verdict times are the times from when the case is reported to COPFS to when it is registered in courts and the time from court registration to verdict. In general for solemn courts the COPFS report to court registration times are higher than court registration to verdict times. In 2023-24,

                - median COPFS report to court registration time increased by 14% in High Court and 11% in Sheriff solemn court, compared to 2022-23.

                 - median court registration to verdict time remained stable in High Court (11 months) and decreased by 9% to 117 days in Sheriff solemn court, compared to 2022-23.

•  In Sheriff summary court the main driver of offence to verdict time is the time from court registration to verdict. In 2023-24 the median court registration to verdict time was around 4 months and the median COPFS report to court registration time was 24 days.
• The analysis suggests that there are differences in accused persons’ journey times depending on the type of crime on registration.
• The longest journey times were observed for accused persons charged with at least one sexual crime and verdict issued in High court. In this edition of the bulletin these times can now be split into historic and non-historic sexual offences.
• For non-historic sexual offences, the median offence to verdict time for an accused with at least one sexual crime and a verdict issued in High court has remained similar to 2022-23 at around 3 years.
• For historic sexual offences, the median offence to journey time for an accused with at least one sexual crime and a verdict issued in High court in 2023-24 was just over 11 years. This is a reduction of over 2 years from 2022-23. Over half of this median time is accounted for by the time it took from the date of offence to the offence first becoming known to police, indicating delayed reporting of offences.
• For historic offences, regardless of the type of court, the time taken for offences to be reported to police can be lengthy and in many cases is the driver of long journey times.
• In general, for accused classified in the other crime groups, median offence to verdict times in solemn procedures have increased, while they have decreased in summary procedures.
• Rape and attempted rape, causing death by driving dangerously, fraud, fire raising and drug supply show the longest journey times for each of the crime groups.
• In the majority of crime types (regardless of whether or not the offences were historic), median journey times decreased in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. Median offence to verdict times increased in the latest financial year for: non-historic sexual assault (4%), indecent photos of children (19%), threatening to or disclosing intimate images (8%), murder and culpable homicide (20%), historic domestic abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 (17%) and theft from a motor vehicle (18%).