Domestic abuse prosecutions and convictions statistics: FOI release

Information requested

A) prosecutions and B) convictions under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 in each year since implementation in 2019. Please disaggregate the statistics by male and female offender, and by summary and solemn procedure.

Response

The answer to your question is provided in the table below:

Number of people prosecuted under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018, where this was the main crime, broken down by result and court type, 2019-20 to 2022-23.

	2019-20				2020-21				2021-22				2022-23
	Female Person		Male Person		Female Person		Male Person		Female Person		Male Person		Female Person		Male Person
	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty	Not Guilty	Guilty
Sheriff solemn*	-	-	3	18	-	-	4	47	-	1	16	96	-	1	27	152
Sheriff summary	2	5	35	189	1	14	32	320	6	31	100	562	12	25	101	585
Total prosecuted	2	5	38	207	1	14	36	367	6	32	116	658	12	26	128	737

• Source: Scottish Government Criminal proceedings database

* - includes High Court.

Please note:

Data from 2020-21 are affected by the pandemic and subsequent court closures and should not be considered indicative of long term trends.
Data from 2021-22 are affected by the pandemic and restricted court capacity and should not be considered indicative of long term trends.
Data from 2022-23 are affected by the recovery from the pandemic and restricted court capacity and should not be considered indicative of long term trends.

The latest available data is for the financial year 2022-23. The next edition of the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland bulletin, covering 2023-24, is scheduled for publication in autumn 2025.

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