Reconviction rates in Scotland: 2013-2014 offender cohort

2. Main findings: reconviction rates for non-court disposals

Changes were introduced as a result of the Criminal Proceedings Act 2007 and these were collectively known as Summary Justice Reform. They were designed to take less serious cases out of the justice system at an earlier stage, and to improve the efficiency of court processes.

In 2007-08, new options became available to the police for dealing with minor offences. These included Anti-Social Behaviour Fixed Penalty Notices ( ASBFPNs) and Formal Adult Warnings for crimes such as breach of the peace, urinating, consuming alcohol in a public place, and for other, more minor offences.

Prosecution in court is only one of a range of options available for dealing with people who have been reported to the Procurator Fiscal. Procurators Fiscal have had long standing powers to issue Fiscal Fines as an alternative to court prosecution for a range of offences and to provide a conditional offer of a Fixed Penalty Notice to offenders for speeding offences and other road traffic related offences. In addition to these and as part of Summary Justice Reform, the Scottish Parliament provided prosecutors with powers to issue an enhanced range of fiscal fines and to award compensation to victims, through Fiscal Compensation Orders. Collectively these non-court prosecution options are used to deal with less serious offences.

2.1 Police disposals

( Table 13)

Of all the individuals given a non-court disposal (by the police or COPFS) in 2013-14, those given Early and Effective Interventions had the highest percentage of individuals who received another non-court disposal within one year (29.4) and the highest average number of non-court disposals per individual (0.54) of any non-court disposal ( Table 13 and Table 14).

Of the individuals given an ASBFPN between 2008-09 and 2013-14 the percentage who received another non-court disposal within one year decreased by 3 percentage points from 28.5 per cent to 25.5 per cent. There has been a decline in the average number of non-court disposals per individual, for the first time since 2008-09, with a 13 per cent decline from 0.54 in 2012-13 to 0.47 in 2013-14 ( Table 13).

Of the individuals given a Formal Adult Warning between 2008-09 and 2013-14, the percentage who received another non-court disposal within one year decreased by 5.3 percentage points from 18.1 per cent to 12.8 per cent, and there was a 25 per cent decrease in the average number of non-court disposals per individual from 0.28 to 0.21 ( Table 13).

2.2 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service ( COPFS) disposals

( Table 14 )

Of those individuals given a COPFS disposal in 2013-14, those given a Fiscal Fine had the highest percentage of individuals who received another non-court disposal (21.5 per cent) and the highest average number of non-court disposals per individual (0.33). Individuals given a Fiscal Fixed Penalty had the lowest percentage of individuals who received another non-court disposal (8.8 per cent) and the lowest average number of non-court disposals per individual (0.10).

Between 2008-09 and 2013-14, those given Fiscal Fines, Fiscal Combined Fines with Compensation, and Fiscal Compensation Orders have all seen a decrease in the percentage of individuals who received another non-court disposal within one year and a decrease in the average number of non-court disposals per individual. This is in contrast to those given Fiscal Fixed Penalties, where the average number of non-court disposals per individual has decreased year on year for the first time since 2008-09 and the percentage of individuals who received another non-court disposal within one year has decreased by 1.2 percentage points from 10.0 to 8.8 since 2012-13 which is contrast to the generally upward trend shown since 2008-09.

Fiscal Work Orders ( FWO) were introduced in Scotland on 1 ^st April 2015. Reconviction statistics for FWO will not be included in this publication till the 2016-17 publication as a full two years of data will be required to assess their effectiveness.