Conviction rates for rape and attempted rape by age of consent of victim: FOI release

Information requested

The number of rape and attempted rape convictions from October 2023 to March 2024 in contrast to April 2023 to September 2023 separated into conviction rates for offences against those of the age of consent compared to those below the age of consent.

Response

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested.

The answer to your query is shown in the table below:

Table
People prosecuted and convicted in Scottish courts of a main charge of rape and attempted rape in the 2023-24 financial year, by age of consent of victim (where determinable from legislation) and date of disposal (before or after 1 October 2023). 

		Case disposed before 1 October 2023	Case disposed on or after 1 October 2023
Victim age not known (pre-SOSA)	Prosecuted	28	33
	Convicted	24	29
	Conviction rate	86%	88%
Victim below age of consent (SOSA Sections 18 and 28)	Prosecuted	7	7
	Convicted	6	5
	Conviction rate	n/r	n/r
Victim of age of consent (SOSA Section 1)	Prosecuted	140	150
	Convicted	74	83
	Conviction rate	53%	55%

Notes:

1. The main charge is the one that conferred the most severe penalty.

2. Assignment to the 2023-24 financial year and the two divisions (before or after 1 October 2023) shown here is based on the date a case concluded in court. For a conviction this is the date of sentencing and for an acquittal this is the date of the verdict. A case may have begun much earlier. This is especially true of cases of Rape and attempted rape which are typically heard in the High Court. The High Court generally deals with the most serious and complex cases. Criminal Proceedings data does not include information on when a case was initiated.

3. SOSA = Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.

4. Where the pre-SOSA Common Law offences of Rape or Attempted rape were charged there is no means of determining the age of any victim(s) from Criminal Proceedings statistics. These are likely historic offences (i.e., those reported over a year after when they occurred) as these crimes were repealed when SOSA was introduced on 1 December 2010. I.e., the law applied must reflect the law as it was when any offending occurred.

5. Age of consent was determined based on whether the SOSA charge fell under Section 1 (Rape), Sections 18 (Rape of a younger child) or Section 28 (Having intercourse with an older child). The act defines a younger child as a person aged under 13 years of age and an older child as a person aged 13-15 years.

6. The conviction rate for Criminal Proceedings statistics is calculated by dividing the number of people convicted by the number of people prosecuted.

7. n/r = not reported (a percentage change figure is not reported if the denominator is less than 10 as any resulting figure may be misleading).

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.