Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2019-20

A total of 85,726 people were proceeded against in Scottish criminal courts in 2019-20, a fall of 4% from 89,725 proceedings in 2018-19 The number of convictions was 75,251 in 2019-20, which is also a fall of 4% from 78,488 in 2018-19. This continues the general downward trend of the last ten years,


Table 7(a) People convicted by main penalty, 2010-11 to 2019-20

Main penalty 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 % change 2018-19 to 2019-20
Total  115,581    108,424    101,018    105,658    106,575    99,954    92,330    83,177    78,488    75,251    -4  
Custody 15,320    15,950    14,789    14,172    14,038    13,755    12,699    11,980    12,221    11,101    -9  
Prison 12,810    13,356    12,727    12,402    12,324    12,029    11,158    10,755    10,988    10,032    -9  
Young offenders institution  2,082    2,105    1,606    1,244    1,155    1,184    998    763    763    583    -24  
Supervised release order 230    267    265    286    325    351    316    287    269    308    14  
Extended sentence 185    212    174    223    214    181    218    162    186    164    -12  
Order for life-long restriction 13    10    17    17    20    10    9    13    15    14    -7  
Community sentence  15,615    16,937    17,263    18,272    18,580    18,952    18,644    17,301    15,211    16,296    7  
Community payback order 461    10,380    14,940    16,375    16,765    16,766    15,974    14,072    11,812    12,530    6  
Restriction of liberty order 831    845    919    1,078    1,174    1,643    2,207    2,712    2,848    3,261    15  
Drug treatment & testing order 806    642    607    589    525    474    418    497    529    493    -7  
Community service order 5,306    2,642    479    141    68    40    18    6    6    3    -50  
Probation and other community sentences[1] 8,211    2,428    318    89    48    29    27    14    16    9    -44  
Financial penalty 67,576    59,320    53,429    57,795    56,779    49,872    44,938    39,235    37,283    34,661    -7  
Fine 66,492    58,395    52,661    56,921    55,939    49,100    44,213    38,447    36,495    33,870    -7  
Compensation order 1,084    925    768    874    840    772    725    788    788    791    0  
Other sentence 17,070    16,217    15,537    15,419    17,178    17,375    16,049    14,661    13,773    13,193    -4  
Admonition[2] 16,421    15,577    15,011    14,839    16,426    16,501    15,234    13,874    13,060    12,504    -4  
Absolute discharge, no order made 460    476    361    465    660    788    687    677    607    580    -4  
Remit to children's hearing 170    140    133    94    67    77    100    86    87    89    2  
Insanity, hospital, guardianship order 19    24    32    21    25    9    28    24    19    20    5  
Average amount of penalty                      
Custody (days)[3] 277    289    284    295    287    293    316    319    326    356   
Fine (£)[4,5] 180    200    200    180    200    200    200    230    230    240   
Compensation order (£)[5,6] 190    200    200    200    200    200    250    290    250    250   

1. Includes supervised attendance orders, community reparation orders and anti-social behaviour orders.
2. Includes a small number of court cautions and dog-related disposals.
3. Excludes life-long restriction orders.
4. Excludes company fines.
5. Calculated as the median.
6. As main or secondary penalty.

Contact

Email: Justice_Analysts@gov.scot

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