Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 1998

1. Introduction

1.1 This bulletin presents statistics on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts during 1998. It is one of an annual series of bulletins, the previous one being CrJ/1999/1. The bulletin includes information on the types of crime or offence involved in court proceedings, sentencing outcomes and the characteristics of offenders.

1.2 Detailed notes on the statistics used in the bulletin and the classification of crimes and offences are given in the Annex. Figures are generally quoted to the nearest 100 in the text but are given precisely in the tables.

Chart 1: Penalties imposed in Scottish Courts in 1988 and 1998

2. Key Points

• In 1998, the total number of persons proceeded against in court decreased by 8 per cent to 159,200, continuing the gradual decline from the total of 200,900 recorded in 1991.
• Decreases were recorded in the number of persons proceeded against in all broad crime groups except for crimes of indecency which rose by 8 per cent to 1,500. This mainly reflected an increase of 29 per cent in persons proceeded against for offences related to prostitution.
• In 1998, 88 per cent of persons called to court had at least one charge proved against them or a plea of guilty accepted, a total of 139,800 convictions.
• The number of persons convicted in 1998 for drugs offences totalled 6,900, similar to the 1997 figure but three times the number convicted in 1988.
• The number of custodial sentences imposed in 1998 was 15,900 (down 2 per cent). Eighty-three per cent of custodial sentences were for 6 months or less. The average length of determinate custodial sentences in 1998 was 220 days, slightly below the 1997 figure of 227 days but 16 per cent higher than the 1988 average of 189 days.
• In 1998, the number of convictions resulting in a community service order was 5,300 (down 8 per cent from 1997); and the number resulting in a probation order was 7,100 (up 5 per cent).
• In 1998, 68 per cent of all convictions resulted in a fine as the main penalty, compared with 69 per cent in 1997 and 78 per cent in 1988. The average fine imposed in 1998 rose 4 per cent to £176.
• The peak age for conviction in 1998 remained at 18. Eight per cent of eighteen year old males in the Scottish population were convicted for a crime, simple assault or breach of the peace on at least one occasion during 1998 compared to just over one per cent of females of the same age.

3. Criminal Court Proceedings in Context (Table 1)

3.1 Chart 2 and Table 1 provide a summary of known action in the criminal justice system. In 1998, the police recorded 432,000 crimes and 516,000 offences. The number of crimes recorded in 1998 represented a 3 per cent increase compared with the 1997 figure and reversed the downward trend evident since 1992. However, the level of total recorded crime in 1998 was 25 per cent lower than the peak 1991 figure. The clear up rate in 1998 was 41 per cent for crimes and 96 per cent for offences. "Clear-ups" do not necessarily result in a report being made to the procurator fiscal. For example, where the alleged offender is a child, a referral will normally be made to the Reporter to the Children’s Panel. The Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme operated by police forces offers the owners of defective vehicles the opportunity to avoid a report being made to the procurator fiscal, and the consequent possibility of court proceedings, by having their vehicle repaired within a given period. An example of a different type of diversion is the use of designated places in some areas for certain categories of offender. It is not known how many alleged offenders are dealt with informally by the police or by other agencies, rather than the procurator fiscal. In April 1993 a new alternative to court proceedings was introduced for moving motor vehicle offences - the police conditional offer of a fixed penalty; previously only procurators fiscal could offer a fixed penalty for such an offence. In 1998 there were 124,000 police conditional offers compared with 112,300 in 1994.

3.2 Referrals or reports may often include more than one crime or offence, and in the case of reports to the procurator fiscal may also involve more than one person. There is thus no direct relationship between the number of crimes and offences recorded by the police and the number of disposals resulting from the action of other agencies within the criminal justice system. In addition, many offences, such as Wireless Telegraphy Act offences (failure to pay a television licence), are not recorded by the police in the first instance. Where crimes or offences are recorded and cleared up by the police, procurator fiscal or other action does not necessarily occur in the same calendar year. In 1998, the number of reports received by the procurator fiscal was 293,400, an increase of 2 per cent compared with 1997 but 25 per cent below the total recorded in 1991 prior to the introduction of police conditional offers.

3.3 Prosecution in court is only one of a range of possible options the procurator fiscal has for dealing with persons who have been charged. Over a third of reports made to the procurator fiscal do not result in prosecution. Other actions include the use of fiscal warnings, diversion to social work, the use of conditional offers of a fixed penalty for a range of motor vehicle offences, the "fiscal fine" for less serious non-motor vehicle offences and sending cases to the Reporter to the Children's Panel. Some 14 per cent of reports received resulted in no proceedings. A further 9 per cent resulted in no further proceedings - reports where initially some action was proposed (e.g. a fiscal fine or court proceedings) but where subsequently proceedings were discontinued.