Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System: 2022 to 2023

5. Background

The information presented in this paper illustrate some of the key trends in journey times for accused persons in the Scottish criminal justice system. For the purposes of this bulletin, a journey through the criminal justice system begins when an offence is committed and ends with the accused’s verdict and sentencing, if applicable. Depending on the nature and severity of the charges involved, an accused can leave the criminal justice system via Police Scotland, COPFS or at court.

When an incident is reported to the police, they will begin by considering whether a crime has been committed. If a crime has been committed and a suspect is identified, then police will follow one of three routes: decide that no further action is necessary, issue a fixed penalty notice or recorded police warning (police direct measures) or submit a report to COPFS. In cases where a police direct measure is issued, the time from an individual being cautioned or charged with an offence to being issued with a direct measure is usually short, if not immediate. Due to the rapid disposal of these cases, they are therefore not included in the scope of this bulletin. If a report is submitted to COPFS, the procurator fiscal will decide how to proceed with the case. This can involve taking no action (e.g. where there is not enough evidence), issuing a Fiscal direct measure (e.g. alternative to prosecution, fiscal fine or warning letter) or submitting the case for prosecution in court.

This paper uses two new datasets supplied by COPFS and SCTS covering the time period April 2017 to March 2023 to calculate accused journey times from offence date to conclusion. Both datasets consist of management information derived from live operational databases and as such may be subject to minor changes over time. The data sets have been subject to each organisation’s internal quality assurance procedures before being used for this analysis. Using these data sets, the paper presents information on median times (and the 90^th percentile time) for accused persons from the date of an offence to the date that the case is closed by COPFS or they are disposed in Court (i.e. the accused is given a verdict).

As with many other areas, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption and presented significant challenges for the operation of the justice system. Compliance with public health measures during the pandemic influenced operations across the criminal justice system. The Lord Advocate issued revised guidelines on the use of police custody, and the courts had to close for extended periods or operate at reduced capacity. The necessity for non-essential court business to be suspended and the need for social distancing rules to be considered as courts re-opened will have lengthened case journey times. In addition, the effects of the pandemic on police and COPFS workforces may also have impacted the growth in system backlogs and case journey times. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have added significantly to the age profile of business in hand which in turn will affect journey lengths.