Statistical Bulletin CrJ/1991/1 Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts, 1997

1. Introduction

1.1 This bulletin presents statistics on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts during 1997. It is one of an annual series of bulletins, the previous one being CrJ/1998/1. The bulletin includes information on the types of crime or offence involved in court proceedings; on the characteristics of offenders as centrally recorded by the police; and on the number and outcome of appeals.

1.2 Contraventions of the law are divided into crimes and offences, crimes generally being the more serious. The tables are provided in the Appendix. Detailed notes on the statistics used in the bulletin and the classification of crimes and offences are given in the Annex. Figures quoted to the nearest 100 in the text are given precisely in the tables.

2. Key Points

In 1997, the total number of persons proceeded against in court decreased by 2 per cent to 172,600, continuing the gradual decline from the total of 200,900 recorded in 1991. There were increases of 19 per cent and 3 per cent respectively in the number of persons proceeded against for crimes of indecency and motor vehicle offences. Little change was recorded in the number prosecuted for miscellaneous offences while decreases were recorded in the other four crime and offence groups. In 1997, the number of persons proceeded against for drugs offences increased by 10 per cent to 8,200, almost three times the figure recorded in 1987. In 1997, 88 per cent of persons called to court had at least one charge proved against them or a plea of guilty accepted. The number of custodial sentences imposed in 1997 was 16,200 (down 4 per cent). The average length of determinate custodial sentences was 227 days, slightly below the 1996 figure of 229 days but 24 per cent higher than the 1987 average of 183 days. In 1997, the number of community service orders imposed was 5,700 (no change from 1996); and the number of persons given a probation order was 6,800 (up 6 per cent). In 1997, 69 per cent of all persons with a charge proved received a fine as their main penalty, compared with 79 per cent in 1987. The average fine imposed rose 4 per cent to £170. The peak age for conviction in 1997 remained at 18. Ten per cent of eighteen year old males in the Scottish population had a charge proved against them for a crime, simple assault or breach of the peace on at least one occasion during 1997 compared to one per cent of females of the same age. In 1997, a total of 3,300 appeals were decided. Of these, 2 per cent resulted in a conviction being quashed and 15 per cent in a sentence reduction.

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 1997, the police recorded 420,600 crimes, of which 164,200 (39 per cent) were cleared up; and 486,900 offences, 467,400 (96 per cent) of which were cleared up. The number of crimes recorded each year by the police has fallen since 1991. During this period the number of crimes which were cleared up remained relatively stable, reflecting a generally upward trend in the clear up rate. Apart from a slight dip in 1995 and 1996, the total number of offences recorded by the police and the number cleared up both followed an upward trend, increasing by over a quarter between 1987 and 1997. "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 1997 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 1997, the number of reports received by the procurator fiscal was 288,600, over 100,000 fewer than 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 30 per cent 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 12 per cent of reports received resulted in no proceedings. A further 7 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.

4. Persons Proceeded Against (Tables 2(a) and 2(b))

4.1 In 1997, the total number of persons proceeded against decreased by 2 per cent to 172,600, continuing the gradual decline from the figure of 200,900 recorded in 1991. While there were increases of 19 per cent and 3 per cent for crimes of indecency and motor vehicle offences respectively, there was little change in the number prosecuted for miscellaneous offences and decreases in the other four crime and offence groups.

4.2 The number of persons proceeded against where the main charge was a non-sexual crime of violence, fell by 2 per cent to 5,600 between 1996 and 1997, following a rise of 16 per cent between 1995 and 1996. (For the definition of main charge, see Annex, note 2.) The overall decrease within this crime group reflected decreases in the number of persons proceeded against for homicide (down 25 per cent to 119), handling offensive weapons (down 2 per cent to 2,900) and robbery (down 9 per cent to 848). These decreases were only partly offset by increases for serious assault (up 5 per cent to 1,500) and "other" crimes of violence (up 5 per cent to 299). The number of persons proceeded against for crimes of violence in 1997 were generally similar to or below the figure for 1987 in all categories except for handling offensive weapons, where the number prosecuted in 1997 was more than twice the total ten years previously.

4.3 In 1997, the number of persons proceeded against where the main crime was a crime of indecency increased by 19 per cent to 1,400, following a fall of 21 per cent in the previous year. While there were increases recorded in the number of prosecutions for all categories within this crime group, most of the rise was due to "other" crimes of indecency which consist mainly of offences related to prostitution. Prosecutions in this category increased by 32 per cent, after a fall of 37 per cent in the previous year. Since 1987, the number of persons proceeded against for sexual assault has fluctuated around 200. Despite increases in the last two years, the number of persons proceeded against for lewd and indecent behaviour in 1997 was almost a fifth below the 1987 figure.

4.4 The number of persons proceeded against where the main crime was a crime of dishonesty decreased by 8 per cent in 1997 to 31,100. This is 14,500 (32 per cent) less than the number of persons proceeded against for a crime of dishonesty in 1987. In 1997, there was a 13 per cent fall to 4,100 in the number of persons proceeded against for housebreaking and an 8 per cent fall to 2,700 in prosecutions for theft by opening a lockfast place. There were also falls in the number of persons proceeded against for theft of a motor vehicle (down 7 per cent to 3,300), other theft (down 1 per cent to 7,100), fraud (down 34 per cent to 2,300) and "other" crimes of dishonesty (down 8 per cent to 3,700). The only category within this crime group to show an increase was shoplifting (up 2 per cent to 8,000).

4.5 The number of persons proceeded against for fire-raising and vandalism decreased by 5 per cent to 5,900 in 1997, ending a sequence of three successive annual increases. After increasing by almost 50 per cent between 1980 and 1987, the number of persons proceeded against for fire-raising and vandalism is now 19 per cent below the peak figure recorded in 1987. (These crimes are primarily committed by young persons and this pattern partly reflects the change in demography with fewer persons now aged under 18.)

4.6 In 1997, there was an increase of 10 per cent to 8,200 in the number of prosecutions for drugs offences. This continued the upward trend evident from 1988: drugs prosecutions more than trebled between 1988 and 1997. The 26 per cent fall in 1997 in the number of persons proceeded against for crimes against public justice mainly reflects the consequences of recent legislation on the way in which offences committed by persons while on bail are classified in the statistics on court proceedings. (See section 9 and Annex, note 13, for further details.)

4.7 Within an overall picture of little change between 1996 and 1997 in the number of persons proceeded against for miscellaneous offences, prosecutions for drunkenness fell by 15 per cent to 1,000, continuing the long-term reduction. While the number of persons proceeded against for simple assault in 1997 (15,900) was 2 per cent higher than in 1996 and 11 per cent higher than in 1987, the number proceeded against for breach of the peace fell by over a quarter between 1987 and 1997, from 30,800 to 22,300. From 1988, the "other" category in miscellaneous offences also includes breaches of probation and community service orders, so figures from 1988 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years (see Annex, note 12). In 1997, the number of prosecutions in the "other" miscellaneous offences category fell by 1 per cent to 13,500.

4.8 The overall 3 per cent increase in the number of persons proceeded against for motor vehicle offences in 1997 reflected increases for all categories except dangerous and careless driving (down 1 per cent to 5,200) and speeding (down 7 per cent to 11,800). There was a 7 per cent rise in the number of persons proceeded against for drunk driving in 1997 to 8,900, the third successive annual increase after a generally downward trend since 1985. However, the 1997 total was 22 per cent below the number proceeded against for drunk driving in 1987.

5. Type of Court (Table 3)

5.1 Of those persons against whom the procurator fiscal instigates proceedings, nearly all are called to court. The introduction of fixed penalties in 1983 for certain motor vehicle offences had a substantial impact, resulting in reduced numbers of such offences being dealt with in the courts. The removal of these cases (which mainly resulted in fines) also caused an increase in the proportion of cases resulting in more serious sentences. Some reduction in the sheriff court workload may also have resulted from the extension of the powers of the district court to deal with further minor statutory offences (mainly motor vehicle offences). However, the introduction of police conditional offers in 1993 led to a reduction in district court workload. The number of persons called to the district court and the stipendiary magistrates court in 1997 were, respectively, around a quarter and a third below the number called in 1987.

5.2 Over half (58 per cent) of 171,900 persons called to court in 1997 were dealt with in the sheriff court. In that year, the number of persons called to the sheriff court fell by 2 per cent to 98,900. There was also a fall of 1 per cent to 61,600 in the number of persons called to the district court in 1997, while the number called to the stipendiary magistrates court was almost the same as the total in 1996. The most serious cases go to the High Court, which is the only court with the power to impose custodial sentences of over 3 years. A total of 1,356 persons were called to the High Court in 1997, a 5 per cent decrease compared with 1996.

Chart 3: Index of persons called to court by type of court, 1987-1997 (1987=100)