Justice Analytical Services (JAS): Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2023 edition

Summary statistics on criminal and civil proceedings

COVID-19 impacted the number of proceedings and convictions in 2020-21. The number of people convicted in Scottish courts fell by 44% from 2019-20 to 42,532.

Fall in convictions in almost all categories between 2019-20 & 2020-21. Convictions fell the most for motor vehicle offences (down 58%) and crimes of dishonesty (down 44%). However, convictions for crimes under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act increased by 81% (383 convictions) in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20 (212 convictions). The course of conduct offence was only introduced in April 2019 and so to some extent an increase would be expected after the first year as it takes time for evidence to build up and cases to progress through court.

Fall in numbers of community sentences issued, but rise in proportion in 2020-21. The number of community sentences in court fell by 42% between 2019-20 and 2020-21, from 16,661 to 9,741, in line with the fall seen in convictions overall due to the impact of COVID-19 on court business. The proportion of all convictions resulting in a community sentence rose to 23%, the highest in the past decade. The proportion split of sentence types this year is likely a function of the differing levels of capacity of the different court types operating during the year rather than indicative of any trend.

Average custodial sentence is under a year. For those who are convicted in court and sentenced to custody, the average sentence in 2020-21 was almost eleven months (329 days) in length. This was 8% shorter than in 2019-20, but 14% longer than in 2011-12 (9.5 months). The proportion of people receiving a sentence of up to one year or less remained unchanged at 75% in 2020-21, the lowest proportion of the last decade.

Community payback orders still more likely to have supervision than unpaid work. There were 12,150 community payback orders imposed in 2021-22. This was 49% higher than in 2020-21 but still 28% lower than in 2019-20. The difficulties with delivering unpaid work due to Covid-19 was a major factor in more orders being issued with offender supervision requirements (71%) than unpaid work or other activity requirements (63%).

Reconviction rates are at one of their lowest levels in 22 years. The average number of reconvictions per offender was 11% lower than it was a decade ago. The fall in the last decade was driven by younger age groups, with average reconvictions decreasing by 12% for under 21s, 18% for 21-25 year olds, and 15% for 26-30 year olds. In contrast, average reconvictions increased for the older age groups over the decade, with increases of 7% for 31-40 year olds and 3% for those aged over 40.

No. of children referred to SCRA on offence grounds down by over 30 per cent in last 10 years. Statistics published by the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) show that, in 2021-22, 2,398 children were referred to the Reporter on offence grounds. This constitutes a decrease of 31% since 2012-13.

Long-term downward trend in initiated civil law cases, latest figures lower due to restrictions during the pandemic. There were 43,632 civil law cases initiated across the Court of Session and sheriff courts in 2020-21 (excluding summary applications). This represents a decrease of 41% from 2019-20.

All case types decreased since 2019-20. The largest decreases were in repossessions (down 96%), evictions (down 95%) and damages (down 65%). Debts were down 39%, while the lowest decreases were seen in personal injury (down 21%) and family (down 14%). Debt actions remain the most common, constituting 49% of principal craves. Family and personal injury actions were second and third most common, at 24% and 16% respectively.