Diversion from Prosecution is the referral
of an accused to social work or other agencies where it is
believed that formal criminal justice proceedings are not
necessary (i.e. where there is no overriding public
interest for a prosecution). The accused is then dealt with
through 'diversion schemes' which aim to address underlying
causes of offending. Diversion is designed to prevent
individuals being prematurely "up-tariffed" into a
custodial sentence and to stop the cycle of
offending/punishment before it starts.
The decision as to whether or not an accused should be
diverted is taken by the Procurator Fiscal.
Background: Pilot Schemes
Diversion from Prosecution pilot schemes were
established in 18 local authorities from April 1997 and ran
for a two year period. An evaluation of the schemes was
carried out by Stirling University and published in January
2000. The report was broadly positive and suggested that
the schemes provided a range of benefits. However, there
was felt to be a lack of sufficient targeting and it was
suggested that diversion was often being used not as an
alternative to prosecution but as a costly alternative to
other forms of diversion e.g. fiscal fines. Diversion could
also prove to be a more expensive option than
prosecution.
Following on from the evaluation, and in consultation
with the Crown Office, it was agreed that there should be a
move away from the generic approach to more targeted
schemes comprising the following key groups of accused:
- Accused with mental health difficulties or learning
disabilities
- Drug and alcohol misusing accused
- Female accused
- Young (16 and 17 year old)
The Executive has provided funding to all local
authorities to make Diversion from Prosecution available to
Procurators Fiscal across Scotland. This has led to a
steady increase in the number of cases commenced, from 672
cases in 2000/01, when Diversion was available in only 18
local authority areas, to 1,015 cases in 2002-03 after
national roll-out, to 1,340 cases commenced in 2003-04,
which represents a 32% increase in the last year.
Given the targeting of key groups, it is significant
that 48% of all Diversion cases commencing in 2003-04 were
in respect of females. And, whilst females tended to be
older (54% over 30), men receiving Diversion tended to be
younger (45% under 21).