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Publication - Statistics

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland: 2023-2024

Published
9 December 2025
Directorate
Safer Communities Directorate, +1 more … Justice Directorate
Topic
Law and order, Public safety and emergencies

Statistics on criminal proceedings in Scottish courts and alternative measures to prosecution, 2014-2015 to 2023-2024.

Part of

Supporting documents

12. Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service disposals

(Tables 20, 21a, 21b, 21c and 22)

COPFS disposal types

When a report is submitted by the Police (or other specialist reporting agency) to the Procurator Fiscal, prosecution in court is only one of a range of possible options for dealing with people who have been charged. The Procurator Fiscal can decide to take no action e.g. if there is insufficient evidence, or if it is not in the public interest to proceed. Alternatively, the Procurator Fiscal can decide to use a non-court direct measure such as a Fiscal Fine or a diversion from prosecution. Where the Procurator Fiscal decides to offer a diversion from prosecution, this is not shown in the data in this publication.

High-level summary

In 2023-24:

  • there were 31,166 COPFS disposals issued in Scotland
  • 9,793 (31%) of COPFS disposals were Fiscal Fines (Chart 18)
  • 12,705 (41%) of COPFS disposals were Fiscal Fixed Penalties (Chart 18)
  • 4,912 (16%) of COPFS disposals were Fiscal Combined Fine Plus Compensations (Chart 18)

A full listing of the range of disposals available can be seen in Annex D.

Chart 18. Fiscal fixed penalties and Fiscal fines were the two most common disposals issued by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service disposals by type, 2023-24.

A bar chart showing the relative proportions of different COPFS disposals in 2023-24. Ordered from most to least these were: Fiscal Fixed Penalty (41%), Fiscal Fine (31%), Fiscal Combined Fine and Compensation (16%), Fiscal Warning (9%) and Fiscal Compensation (3%).

Year-on-year change

Between 2022-23 and 2023-24:

  • all COPFS disposals increased by 1%
  • Fiscal Fixed Penalties had the largest absolute increase, rising by 1,335

Change over the 10-year span

Between 2014-15 and 2023-24:

  • there was a decrease of 31,950 COPFS disposals (down 51%)
  • the largest absolute fall was for Fiscal Fines, which decreased by 26,521

Breakdown by offence type

In 2023-24:

  • Fiscal Fines were mostly issued for Drugs possession (2,505 or 28%), Threatening and abusive behaviour (1,614 or 18%) and Unlawful use of vehicle (1,355 or 15%)
  • Fiscal Fixed Penalties were mostly issued for Speeding offences (7,756 or 61%), Documentation offences (2,547 or 20%) and Signal and direction offences (687 or 5%) (Chart 19)

Chart 19. The most common offence the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service issued a Fiscal Fixed Penalty for was Speeding offences.

Fiscal Fixed Penalties issued by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, by offence type, 2023-24.

A bar chart showing the number of Fiscal Fixed Penalties by crime category in 2023-24. Ordered from most to least these were: Speeding offences (7,756), Documentation offences (2,547), Signal and direction offences (687), Lighting, construction & use offences (638), Serious driving offences (536) and Other road traffic offences (504).

Breakdown by sex

In 2023-24:

  • males were issued 74% of all Fiscal Fines
  • males were issued 76% of all Fiscal Fixed Penalties
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