Statistical Bulletin: Crime and Justice Series: Criminal Appeal Statistics, Scotland: 2008-09

2 Key Points

• A total of 2,191 criminal appeals were concluded in the High Court of Justiciary in 2008-09, a 3 per cent decrease from 2007-08 (Table 1, Table 2).
• The number of concluded appeals against decisions of the Justice of the Peace ( JP)/District Courts decreased by 16 per cent (from 214 to 180) between 2007-08 and 2008-09 (Table 1).
• Summary sentence only appeals accounted for the largest percentage (49 per cent) of the total in 2008-09. However this is the lowest figure recorded in the past ten years (Table 2).
• Of the 2,191 appeals concluded in 2008-09, 78 per cent related to sentence only (Chart 2).
• The average duration of concluded criminal appeals increased by 7 per cent (from 151 to 162 days) between 2007-08 and 2008-09 (Chart 3).
• The average duration of concluded Solemn conviction appeals increased to 513 days, the highest figure recorded in the past ten years and an increase of 34 per cent from 2007-08 (Chart 3).
• The average duration of appeals from the High Court increased by 24 per cent (from 331 to 409 days) (Chart 4).
• The majority (79 per cent) of appeals concluded in 2008-09 were concluded within six months (Table 3).
• The total of 2,191 concluded appeals in 2008-09 was equivalent to 2 per cent of the total number of persons with a charge proved in criminal proceedings in 2007-08 (Table 4).
• Over half (53 per cent) of the total number of appeals concluded in 2008-09 were refused at the sift stage or abandoned. However this is a decrease of 8 percentage points from 2007-08 (Chart 5, Table 5).