Criminal proceedings in Scotland 2017-2018

Summary of offences dealt with by courts, sentencing outcomes and characteristics of convicted offenders. Additional information on non-court penalties issued by the Police and Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.


Table 1 Summary of known action in the Scottish Criminal Justice System, 2008-09 to 2017-18

Thousands
  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Crimes and offences recorded by the police                    
Crimes 377 338 323 314 273 270 256 246 239 245
Offences1           501 379 339 289 264
Crimes and offences cleared up by the police                    
Crimes 185 167 157 155 140 139 129 127 119 121
Offences1           472 351 308 254 222
Police disposals                    
Anti-social behaviour fixed penalty notices 48 61 54 54 55 56 43 29 15 11
Formal adult warnings 8 8 8 8 8 7 5 3 * *
Recorded Police Warnings - - - - - - - 4 20 17
Early & Effective Interventions and Restorative Justice Warnings 3 3 2 4 5 5 5 7 6 6
Children's Panel referrals                    
Offence referrals to Reporter to Children's Panel2 25 21 16 12 8 7 7 7 7 9
Procurator Fiscal action                    
Total criminal reports received (COPFS cases) 285 276 266 276 281 294 244 226 196 178
Fiscal fines (CHS people)3,4 38 36 36 42 48 47 36 34 22 23
Fiscal fines (COPFS cases)4,5 37 34 33 41 46 47 35 33 21 22
Fiscal fixed penalties (CHS people)3 18 19 20 21 22 23 15 11 8 7
Fiscal fixed penalties (COPFS cases)5 20 18 20 21 22 24 15 11 8 6
Compensation orders (CHS people)3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Compensation orders (COPFS cases)5 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 * 1 1
Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (CHS people)3,4 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2
Combined fiscal fines/compensation orders (COPFS cases)4,5 1 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2
Fiscal warnings (COPFS cases)4,5 15 14 13 12 13 8 8 13 8 9
No action (COPFS cases)4,5 32 30 29 32 35 28 27 26 21 21
Other non-court disposals6 (COPFS cases) 9 8 8 8 10 13 13 10 11 10
People proceeded against in court 141 136 131 125 117 122 123 117 107 95

1. Since 2013-14, not all offence categories in recorded crime statistics are comparable with previous years data. Please see Annex 2 of the Recorded Crime in Scotland publication for further information.
2. A referral may relate to more than one offence. Figures exclude cases jointly referred to the Children’s Reporter and the Procurator Fiscal. These types of cases are
included in the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal (COPFS) action totals.
3. Number of people with main penalty as recorded on the Police Scotland's Criminal History System (CHS).
4. Figures relate to cases which were closed as offer paid/accepted/deemed accepted.
5. Number of cases of highest disposal as recorded on the COPFS information system.
6. Includes cases diverted from prosecution by the COPFS, e.g. to the Children's Reporter, cases transferred within COPFS and cases rolled up with other ongoing cases.

Contact

Email: Ian Volante

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