Statistical Bulletin: Crime and Justice Series: Criminal Appeal Statistics, Scotland: 2008-09
This bulletin presents statistics on criminal appeals concluded in the High Court of Justiciary and includes figures up to 2008-09.
5 Original Disposals and Outcomes of Criminal Appeals
Table 4 shows that 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.
There were 1,513 appeals concluded where the original disposal was custodial. This is equivalent to 9 per cent of the number of persons with a charge proved in 2007-08 who received a custodial disposal. A further breakdown of custodial disposals reveals that the percentage increases with sentence length: 5 per cent for sentences up to 6 months compared to 50 per cent for sentences of 4 years and over.
For each of the other disposal types, including financial penalties and community sentences, the number of appeals was equivalent to 1 per cent or less of the number of persons with a charge proved in 2007-08.
Table 4 Criminal appeals by main crime and disposal under appeal: 2008-09
Disposal before appeal |
Number |
Percentage of persons with a charge proved (2)(3) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All |
Crimes |
Crimes |
Crimes |
Criminal |
Drug |
Other |
Common |
Breach |
Other |
Motor |
All |
||
Total (4) |
2,191 |
266 |
310 |
308 |
54 |
208 |
202 |
68 |
203 |
72 |
448 |
2 |
|
Custody (5) |
1,513 |
251 |
224 |
263 |
40 |
192 |
171 |
55 |
128 |
39 |
123 |
9 |
|
Up to 6 months |
621 |
11 |
74 |
156 |
16 |
41 |
106 |
25 |
83 |
19 |
80 |
5 |
|
>6 months to 2 years |
445 |
63 |
72 |
82 |
15 |
57 |
46 |
18 |
36 |
11 |
43 |
16 |
|
> 2 to < 4 years |
175 |
46 |
23 |
13 |
6 |
47 |
14 |
8 |
8 |
3 |
- |
28 |
|
4 years & over (including life) |
272 |
131 |
55 |
12 |
3 |
47 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
6 |
- |
50 |
|
Community sentence |
132 |
5 |
26 |
18 |
7 |
5 |
9 |
9 |
31 |
4 |
16 |
1 |
|
Financial penalty |
420 |
3 |
32 |
16 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
31 |
22 |
296 |
1 |
|
Other sentence |
45 |
2 |
16 |
2 |
- |
1 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
5 |
* |
|
- Nil * Less than 0.5
1. Includes type of offence not known.
2. Percentages based on the number of persons with a charge proved in 2007/08.
3. The datasets used to calculate this percentage use different methodologies to identify main crime, therefore it is not possible to provide percentages for each crime type.
4. Includes disposal not known.
5. Includes sentence length not known.
Chart 5 and Table 5 provide information on the outcome of appeals. Of the total number of appeals concluded in 2008-09, 53 per cent (1155 appeals) were refused at the sift stage or abandoned. This is the lowest percentage since 2004-05 and a decrease of 8 percentage points from 2007-08.
A further 22 per cent (476 appeals) were dismissed. This is the highest percentage since 2004-05 and an increase of 7 percentage points from 2007-08.
The remaining 25 per cent (559 appeals) were sustained, a similar percentage to that recorded in the previous four years.
Chart 5 Criminal appeals by type of court of first instance and percentage outcome: 2008-09
Table 5 Criminal appeals by outcome: 1999-00 to 2008-09
Year |
Number |
Percentage of total |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total (1) |
Appeal sustained |
Dismissed |
Abandoned (3) |
Appeal sustained |
Dismissed |
Abandoned (3) |
|||
Conviction (2) |
Sentence |
Conviction (2) |
Sentence |
||||||
1999-00 |
3,414 |
58 |
375 |
627 |
2,337 |
2 |
11 |
18 |
68 |
2000-01 |
3,204 |
49 |
318 |
694 |
2,137 |
2 |
10 |
22 |
67 |
2001-02 |
3,249 |
87 |
384 |
609 |
2,167 |
3 |
12 |
19 |
67 |
2002-03 |
2,156 |
69 |
346 |
435 |
1,302 |
3 |
16 |
20 |
60 |
2003-04 |
2,679 |
111 |
422 |
542 |
1,604 |
4 |
16 |
20 |
60 |
2004-05 |
3,152 |
174 |
722 |
788 |
1,468 |
6 |
23 |
25 |
47 |
2005-06 |
2,825 |
151 |
598 |
519 |
1,557 |
5 |
21 |
18 |
55 |
2006-07 |
2,118 |
96 |
350 |
316 |
1,353 |
5 |
17 |
15 |
64 |
2007-08 |
2,254 |
76 |
462 |
339 |
1,376 |
3 |
20 |
15 |
61 |
2008-09 |
2,191 |
120 |
439 |
476 |
1,155 |
5 |
20 |
22 |
53 |
1. Includes a small number of other sustained appeals.
2. Includes appeals against conviction and sentence.
3. Includes appeals refused at sift stage.
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