Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - August 2021
Monthly data report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the justice system in Scotland, including information from Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Prison Service.
Criminal Registered & Scheduled Trials
Since the initial lockdown in March 2020, there have been 112,167 criminal registrations in the courts. 553 of these registrations have been COVID-19 related (0.5%).
In August 2021, all types of court registration remained lower than 2019-20 averages, although the number of indictments registered in the Sheriff court is returning to pre-pandemic levels.
- Indictments registered in the High Court were 56% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Indictments registered in the Sheriff court (solemn cases) were 2% below the 19-20 average.
- Complaints (summary cases) registered in the Sheriff Court were 14% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Complaints registered in the JP court were 28% lower than the 19-20 average.
| Cases Registered | 19-20 monthly average | August 2021 | Change from 19-20 monthly average |
Outstanding trials March 2020 | Outstanding trials August 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indictments | |||||
| High Court | 85 | 37 | -48 (-56%) | 390 | 432 |
| Sheriff Court | 454 | 447 | -7 (-2%) | 497 | 1,781 |
| Complaints | |||||
| Sheriff Court | 5,458 | 4,718 | -740 (-14%) | 13,971 | 33,369 |
| JP Court | 2,799 | 2,012 | -787 (-28%) | 3,497 | 7,944 |
At the end of August 2021 there were 43,526 trials outstanding. This compares to 18,355 at the end of 2019-20. In addition, SCTS have forecast that there are another 5,093 cases in the system which are likely to come to trial but have not yet had a trial date set (see SCTS published monthly criminal statistics for more detail - https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/official-statistics).
Contact
Email: justice_analysts@gov.scot
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