Criminal justice statistics user guide
This document provides detailed information on the Criminal Proceedings and Reconviction Rates in Scotland statistical bulletins. It is designed as a reference guide with explanatory notes regarding issues and classifications which are crucial to the production and presentation of criminal justice statistics in Scotland.
6. Comparisons with other Scottish Government statistics
The Scottish Government produces a range of statistics on crime and justice. This section covers comparisons between the most relevant ones.
6.1 Recorded Crime in Scotland
There is no simple means to compare Criminal Proceedings in Scotland or Reconviction Rates in Scotland data with the police recorded statistics published as Recorded Crime in Scotland.
Recorded Crime in Scotland statistics count crimes and offences in the financial year they came to the attention of Police Scotland. This may be a later year than when any offending took place. By comparison, Criminal Proceedings in Scotland and Reconviction Rates in Scotland data count people by main charge in the financial year their case concluded in court. A single person may appear in court charged with multiple offences in the same case. This means what are recorded as multiple crimes in Recorded Crime in Scotland may appear as one person in Criminal Proceedings in Scotland. Additionally, crimes that appear in one year in Recorded Crime in Scotland may appear in a later year in Criminal Proceedings in Scotland.
Many other factors may lead to differences between these statistics. For example, if a crime is not “cleared-up” or “detected” by police then there will be no corresponding court prosecution. Where a crime is cleared-up by police but not deemed serious enough to pass on to COPFS it may be dealt with directly instead. For example, with a Recorded Police Warning (see non-court disposals). COPFS may also choose to use a direct measure in response to a case received from the police. Such offences will also not appear as court proceedings, but certain other types of non-court disposal are included in the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland and Reconviction Rates in Scotland statistics.
As a case makes its’ way through the criminal justice system is may be modified or conclude in ways other than a prosecution. For example, a case may not proceed to conclusion if an accused person dies or is otherwise deemed unfit for trial on medical grounds. COPFS may also prosecute a person using a “compound charge”. This occurs when what were recorded as multiple charges (crimes) by police are aggregated into a single charge in court.
Other offences may be prosecuted in court but never recorded by police. For example, offences such as failure to pay a television licence are reported directly to COPFS.
A table summarising some of the key differences between these two statistics is shown below.
| Recorded Crime in Scotland | Criminal Proceedings in Scotland/Reconviction Rates in Scotland |
|---|---|
| Counts all crimes recorded by police | Counts people by main charge who have had at least one charge against them proceed to a conclusion in criminal court or have been given a non-court disposal |
| Assigns crimes to the financial year they were recorded by police (which may be a later year than when any offending took place) | Assigns people to the financial year their case concluded in court (which may be a later year than recorded by police) |
| Includes data on the sex of victim for offences under Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 or Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 | Does not include any information on sex of victims |
| Includes data on the location type (dwelling, non-dwelling, other) for housebreaking |
Does not include data on location type for housebreaking |
| Divides Weapons possession into used and not used | Treats Weapons possession as a single category |
Overall, the figures in Recorded Crime in Scotland and those in both Criminal Proceedings in Scotland and Reconviction Rates in Scotland are not directly comparable. However, as most offences reported to COPFS for consideration for prosecution were previously recorded by the police, recorded crime figures have some influence on the number of prosecutions in court. As such, some of these figures are included in both Chart 1 and Table 1 of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland bulletin.
6.2 Scottish Prison Population Statistics
The Scottish Government produce a range of publications on prison population statistics and projections. The primary statistical publication is Scottish Prison Population Statistics. Prison population statistics cover both the remand and sentenced populations. Only the sentenced population should be considered when comparing to Criminal Proceedings in Scotland or Reconviction Rates in Scotland statistics. This is because neither publication holds data on people remanded in custody prior to trial. Additionally, only those given a custodial sentence upon conviction should be considered. However, it is possible that a person initially given a non-custodial sentence later appears in prison. For example, if they breach their community order they may be re-sentenced to custody.
The number of people sentenced to custody in Criminal Proceedings in Scotland or Reconviction Rates in Scotland may be larger than the direct sentenced prison receptions (excluding fine default receptions) published in the Scottish Prison Population Statistics publications. This is because Criminal Proceedings in Scotland and Reconviction Rates in Scotland count people within individual cases and not unique individuals. In other words, a person given a custodial sentence in two separate proceedings sufficiently close in time that the sentences overlap will appear twice in these statistics. However, as a unique individual they would only represent one direct sentence reception in Scottish Prison Population Statistics.
6.3 Justice Social Work Statistics in Scotland
The Scottish Government also produce a range of publications on justice social work statistics. The primary statistical publication is Justice Social Work (JSW) Statistics – Part 2. Again, how community sentence disposals are counted between the two sets of statistics differs somewhat. Three main differences between the two sources are laid out below.
Firstly, where two or more identical orders have been issued to run concurrently, the JSWSS information only counts one order, whereas these statistics will count more than one. However, only one may be shown for a person where the table only counts the main disposal.
Secondly, Criminal Proceedings in Scotland and Reconviction Rates in Scotland counts the penalty of first disposal. By contrast, JSW statistics includes orders given after the initial disposal (e.g. following a fine default, following an appeal etc.). Similarly, orders such as Community Payback Orders show a variation relative to these statistics in the JSW statistics and other sources. This may be because in some circumstances they will sometimes be withdrawn and reissued – we do not count these additional impositions here.
Thirdly, the date on which the order is deemed to be given can vary between the two collections, particularly where the penalty is given on a different date from the plea/verdict.
Please note that statistics on Restriction of Liberty Orders (RLOs) will not match statistics published by G4S, the Scottish Government’s contractor for electronic monitoring. This is because statistics in this publication are representative of the main charge in a set of proceedings and will mask RLOs issued for secondary charges. By contrast, the G4S figures count all RLOs issued by the courts relating to all charges.
6.4 Criminal Disposals Dashboard
Separate statistics on disposals issued in Scottish criminal courts are available via an interactive Criminal Disposals Dashboard. This dashboard provides management information on disposals at charge level given in Scottish criminal courts. The dashboard presents all disposals for each charge that was proven in court. The dashboard allows users to investigate trends from April 2017 by financial year or financial year quarter and is updated quarterly.
This data in the dashboard is not directly comparable to the data in Criminal Proceedings in Scotland or Reconviction Rates in Scotland. Data in these statistics relate to the main charge against which a person is proceeded against or convicted. If there were multiple charges libelled on a Complaint or Indictment and thereafter proven against an accused in a single proceeding, the main charge is the crime or offence receiving the most severe penalty.
Although the trends shown in the dashboard and the ones published in the Criminal Proceedings bulletin are similar, the numbers presented in the dashboard are larger than those presented in the bulletin. This is because data presented in the dashboard include all disposals issued for a charge including those disposals sometimes referred to as secondary disposals. These are often a specific order or warning given alongside a primary disposal. These secondary disposals appear in the dashboard in the “Other disposals” category. This means that the numbers in this category appear larger than might be expected. The dashboard also provides detailed information about custodial and community disposals.
6.5 Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System
The Scottish Government also publish Official Statistics in Development on an accused person’s criminal justice journey time from offence date to case conclusion or verdict. These data are published as both an interactive dashboard and a bulletin.
Because it is focused on the time taken between each step of the criminal justice process this data is not directly comparable to Criminal Proceedings in Scotland or Reconviction Rates in Scotland statistics. However, they do provide some useful further context. For example, because the data contain information about both the date of offending and the date the offence was reported to the police, it is possible to estimate the proportion of those accused in cases involving historic offences.