Journey Times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System 2024-25

9.    Journey times for accused prosecuted in courts by crime group

The types of crime committed by the accused affect the journey time. Analysis by crime group follows the methodology outlined in the methods section above.  

9.1. Sexual crimes (Group 2)

[Supplementary Table 7]

Figure 7 shows the median police known to verdict time by court type for accused included in the Sexual crimes group. This graph shows median journey times decreased in Sheriff solemn and Sheriff summary courts and increased in High court in 2024-25 when compared to 2023-24: times in High Court increased by 22 days (2%) to 1,069 days, decreased by 18 days (-3%) to 560 days in Sheriff solemn court and decreased by 24 days (-7%) to 321 days in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 7: Journey times for accused in the Sexual crimes group increased slightly in the latest financial year for accused with verdicts in High Court and decreased for those with verdicts in Sheriff courts.

Median police known to verdict times for accused in the Sexual crimes group by court type and financial year.

As described in a previous publication (Journey times in the Scottish Criminal Justice System: 2023-24 - gov.scot), the availability of new information has made it possible to identify historic offences and to provide insights into their effect on different stages of the justice journey. A historic offence is defined as one where more than one year elapses between the date of the offence and the date on which it is first reported to the police.

Historic cases, by definition, take longer to progress through the justice system than non‑historic cases. As outlined in the previous bulletin, the impact of historic offences is most evident when considering the full offence to verdict journey time. However, even when focusing on the police known to verdict, journey times can still be influenced by the proportion of historic offences reaching a verdict, as well as by the time taken for such cases to progress from the police to COPFS and from COPFS to the courts.

In 2024-25 there were 1,789 (3%) historic offences across crime groups 1 to 5 (see Annex B for details). The proportion of historic offences was highest within the sexual crime group (Group 2), where 22% of all offences were historic. In the remaining crime groups this ranged from 0-4%. 

The proportion of accused associated with historic crimes within the Sexual crimes group (Group 2) varies by court destination, with solemn procedures receiving a higher proportion of accused linked to historic sexual offences. Table 1 presents the proportion of accused in solemn court for Sexual crimes that are classified as historic in each of the last three years. A small number of cases are excluded from this table where the date on which the offence was first reported to the police is not available.

Table 1: Proportion of accused in the Sexual crimes group with offences classed as historic has increased in 2024-25 in solemn courts.

Proportion (%) and number (N) of accused in the Sexual crime group and verdicts in solemn courts with offences classed as historic in each of the last three years.

Court type	Financial year	Historic (N)	Historic (%)	Non-Historic (N)	Non-Historic (%)	All (N)
High Court	2022-23	200	44%	252	56%	452
High Court	2023-24	266	48%	294	53%	560
High Court	2024-25	262	49%	275	51%	537
Sheriff Solemn	2022-23	160	27%	431	73%	591
Sheriff Solemn	2023-24	189	25%	562	75%	751
Sheriff Solemn	2024-25	238	30%	565	70%	803

Median journey times, including police known to verdict, offence to verdict, offence to police known, and other justice stages, for accused associated with historic and non‑historic Sexual crimes are presented in Supplementary Table 7 and the accompanying interactive dashboard.

In 2024–25, the median police known to verdict time for accused associated with historic Sexual crimes in High Court was 12% higher than for those associated with non‑historic Sexual crimes. In Sheriff solemn court, the corresponding difference was larger, at 23%, indicating that historic Sexual crimes can take longer to progress from police known to verdict.

Median times from police known to COPFS report, COPFS report to court registration and court registration to verdict for accused classified in the Sexual crimes group are shown in figure 8.

The median time from police known to COPFS report for accused with verdicts issued in Sheriff solemn and Sheriff summary court remained more or less stable in 2024-25 at 9 and 12 days, respectively. For accused with verdicts issued in High Court these times are higher but decreased from 78 days in 2023-24 to 71 days (-9%) in 2024-25.

Median COPFS report to court registration times are in general higher for accused with verdicts issued in solemn courts than for those given a verdict in Sheriff summary court. For accused disposed in solemn courts these times have increased in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24: by 3 days (1%) to 505 days in High Court and by 7 days (2%) to 403 days in Sheriff solemn court. Median COPFS report to court registration times for accused disposed in Sheriff summary court decreased by 1 day (-3%) to 28 days in 2024-25.

In 2024-25, median court registration to verdict time decreased by 4% to 338 days in High Court, by 18% to 84 days in Sheriff solemn court and by 8% to 180 days in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 8: In the Sexual crimes group, in 2024-25, median police known to COPFS report times remained stable, median COPFS report to court registration times increased slightly in solemn courts but remain stable in Sheriff summary court, while median court registration to verdict times decreased in all courts.

Median times for journey times stages for accused in the Sexual crimes group by court type and financial year.

9.2. Non-sexual crimes of violence (Group 1)

[Supplementary Table 8]

Figure 9 shows median police known to verdict times by court type for accused included in the Non-sexual crimes of violence group. Median journey times decreased in all court types in 2024-25 when compared to 2023-24: from 670 to 648 days (-3%) in High Court, from 543 to 505 days (-7%) in Sheriff solemn court,  and from 245 to 227 days (-7%) in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 9: Journey times in the Non-sexual crimes of violence group decreased in the latest financial year in all court types.

Median police known to verdict times for accused in the Non-sexual crimes of violence group by court type and financial year.

 

Median times from police known to COPFS report, COPFS report to court registration and court registration to verdict for accused in the Non-sexual crimes of violence group are shown in figure 10.

In 2024-25, the median police known to COPFS report was 3 days in High court and in Sheriff solemn court and 8 days in Sheriff summary court.

For Non-sexual crimes of violence median COPFS report to court registration times are in general lower for accused with verdicts issued in summary courts than for those whose verdicts were issued in solemn courts. For accused disposed in High court, COPFS report to court registration time decreased by 1 day to 280 days in 2024-25, in Sheriff solemn court times increased by 3 days to 288 days and in Sheriff summary court times increased by 3 days to 21 days in 2024-25.

For the Non-sexual crimes of violence group the median court registration to verdict time decreased in 2024-25 in all court types: decreasing by 2 days (-1%) to 300 days in High Court , by 27 days (-20%) to 111 days in Sheriff solemn court and by 1 day (-2%) to 147 days in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 10: In the Non-sexual crimes of violence group, in 2024-25 median police known to COPFS report times remained stable in all courts, median COPFS report to court registration times slightly decreased in High court and slightly increased in sheriff courts while median court registration to verdict times decreased in all courts.

Median times for journey stages for accused in the Non-sexual crimes of violence group by court type and financial year.

9.3. Crimes of dishonesty (Group 3)

[Supplementary Table 9]

Median police known to verdict times for Crimes of dishonesty accused are shown in Figure 11. Median journey times decreased for all courts in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24: by 11% (from 547 to 487 days) in Sheriff solemn court and by 5% (from 250 to 238 days) for accused with a verdict issued in Sheriff summary court. The number of accused in High court included in this group were too few to allow for comparison.

Figure 11: In the Crimes of dishonesty group journey times have decreased in the latest financial year in solemn and summary courts.

Median police known to verdict times for accused in the Crimes of dishonesty group by court type and financial year.

For this group, police known to COPFS report, COPFS report to court registration and court registration to verdict are shown in figure 12.

In 2024-25, the median time from police known to COPFS report for accused receiving a verdict in Sheriff solemn court was 13 days and for accused receiving a verdict in Sheriff summary court was 39 days.

The median COPFS report to court registration time for Crimes of dishonesty accused receiving a verdict in Sheriff solemn court remained at 317 days in 2024-25. The corresponding time in Sheriff summary court increased by 2 days (5%) to 40 days.

In the Crimes of dishonesty group, median in-court times (court registration to verdict) decreased in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24 by 17 days (-25%) to 50 days in Sheriff solemn court and increased by 7 days (6%) to 115 days in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 12: In the Crimes of dishonesty group, in 2024-25 median police known to COPFS report and COPFS report to court registration times remained stable in all courts, while median court registration to verdict times decreased in Sheriff solemn courts and increased in Sheriff summary courts.

Median times for journey stages for accused in the Crimes of dishonesty group by court type and financial year.

9.4. Damage and reckless behaviour (Group 4)

[Supplementary Table 10]

Median journey times for accused in the Damage and reckless behaviour group are shown in figure 13. For this group median journey times increased in 2024-25 when compared to 2023-24: from 505 to 558 days (10%) in Sheriff solemn court and from 193 to 201 days (4%) in Sheriff summary court. The number of accused in High court included in this group were too few to allow for comparison.

Figure 13: In the Damage and reckless behaviour group journey times have increased in the latest financial year in solemn and summary courts.

Median police known to verdict times for accused in the Damage and reckless behaviour group by court type and financial year.

 

The median police known to COPFS report times was 3 days for accused receiving verdicts in Sheriff solemn court and 8 days in Sheriff summary court.

Median COPFS report to court registration times for the Damage and reckless behaviour group decreased by 6 days (-2%) in 2024-25 to 355 days for those accused receiving verdicts in Sheriff solemn court and increased by 2 days (13%) to 18 days for those receiving verdicts in Sheriff summary court.

Median court registration to verdict times for accused receiving a verdict in Sheriff solemn court increased by 26 days (38%) to 95 days in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24 and by 24 days (22%) to 131 days for accused receiving a verdict in Sheriff summary court.

Figure 14: In the Damage and reckless behaviour group, in 2024-25 median police known to COPFS report times remained stable,  COPFS report to court registration times decreased in solemn courts increasing slightly in summary courts, while median court registration to verdict time increased in both court types.

Median times for journey stages of accused in the Damage and reckless behaviour group by court type and financial year.

9.5.  Crimes against society (Group 5)

[Supplementary Table 11]

Figure 15 shows median journey times for accused in the Crimes against society group. Median journey times decreased in 2024-25 when compared to 2023-24 in solemn courts: down 22% from 816 days (2 years 3 months) to 637 days (1 years 9 months) in High Court and down 6% from 512 days (1 year 5 months) to 482 days (1 year 4 months) in Sheriff solemn court. The median time in Sheriff summary court increased 6% from 137 days to 145 days in 2024-25 when compared to 2023-24.

Figure 15: In the Crimes against society group, median journey times decreased in the latest financial year in High court and Sheriff solemn court and increased in Sheriff summary court.

Median police known to verdict times for accused in the Crimes against society group by court type and financial year.

 

Police known to COPFS report, COPFS report to court registration and court registration to verdict times for accused in the Crimes against society group are shown in figure 16.

In 2024-25, median police known to COPFS report times for accused registered in High court, Sheriff solemn, Sheriff summary courts were 2, 3, 6 days, respectively.

In 2024-25, median COPFS report to court registration times for the Crimes against society group increased by 8 days (2%) to 361 days for accused with High Court verdicts, decreased by 10 days (-3%) to 312 days for accused with Sheriff solemn verdicts and increased by 6 days (300%) to 8 days for accused disposed in Sheriff summary court.

In the Crimes against society group, median court registration to verdict time increased in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24 in all court types except High Court. in Sheriff solemn court increased by 3 days (5%) to 62 days and, in Sheriff summary court by 12 days (18%) to 79 days. In High Court median court registration to verdict time decreased by 84 days (-29%) to 203 days in 2024-25.

Figure 16: In the Crimes against society group in 2024-25, median police known to COPFS report times remained stable, COPFS report to court registration times increased in High court and Sheriff summary court but decreased in Sheriff solemn court, while median court registration to verdict times increased in all court types except High Court.

Median times for journey stages of accused in the Crimes against society group by court type and financial year.