Coronavirus (COVID-19): Justice Analytical Services data report - August 2021
Monthly data report on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the justice system in Scotland, including information from Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, and Scottish Prison Service.
This document is part of a collection
Criminal Registered & Scheduled Trials
Since the initial lockdown in March 2020, there have been 112,167 criminal registrations in the courts. 553 of these registrations have been COVID-19 related (0.5%).
In August 2021, all types of court registration remained lower than 2019-20 averages, although the number of indictments registered in the Sheriff court is returning to pre-pandemic levels.
- Indictments registered in the High Court were 56% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Indictments registered in the Sheriff court (solemn cases) were 2% below the 19-20 average.
- Complaints (summary cases) registered in the Sheriff Court were 14% lower than the 19-20 average.
- Complaints registered in the JP court were 28% lower than the 19-20 average.
| Cases Registered | 19-20 monthly average | August 2021 | Change from 19-20 monthly average |
Outstanding trials March 2020 | Outstanding trials August 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indictments | |||||
| High Court | 85 | 37 | -48 (-56%) | 390 | 432 |
| Sheriff Court | 454 | 447 | -7 (-2%) | 497 | 1,781 |
| Complaints | |||||
| Sheriff Court | 5,458 | 4,718 | -740 (-14%) | 13,971 | 33,369 |
| JP Court | 2,799 | 2,012 | -787 (-28%) | 3,497 | 7,944 |
At the end of August 2021 there were 43,526 trials outstanding. This compares to 18,355 at the end of 2019-20. In addition, SCTS have forecast that there are another 5,093 cases in the system which are likely to come to trial but have not yet had a trial date set (see SCTS published monthly criminal statistics for more detail - https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/official-statistics).
Contact
Email: justice_analysts@gov.scot
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