CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS IN SCOTLAND 2014-15

Summary of offences dealt with by courts, sentencing outcomes and characteristics of convicted offenders. Additional information on non-court penalties issued by the Police and Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.

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4. People convicted by crime/ offence

(Tables 4a and 4b)

This publication divides violations of criminal law into (a) crimes and (b) offences. This distinction is made only for statistical reporting purposes. Although the violations allocated under “crimes” tend to be more serious there are some “offences” that have more severe punishments associated with them e.g. drink driving is classified under “offences” in the “motor vehicle offences” section rather than under “crimes”. See Annex D for a full listing of the classification.

A total of 106,507 people had a charge proved in 2014-15, a rise of less than one per cent on levels in 2013-14 (105,626). In 2014-15 “crimes” made up 36,455 of the total number of convictions (34 per cent) while “offences” stood at 70,052 (66 per cent). There was no noticeable difference between the rate of increase in the number of convictions for “crimes” and “offences”.

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Email: Gillian Diggins

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