Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2024/25: Main findings

Public perceptions of the Scottish criminal justice system

What did the public think about the criminal justice system in Scotland?

Three quarters (75%) of adults said they know nothing or not very much about the criminal justice system, consistent with previous years. Only 3% reported knowing a lot.

Despite low self-reported knowledge, most respondents expressed confidence in the system’s performance for most measures. However, all are unchanged from 2023/24, and four of the measures show decreasing confidence since 2021/22. For example:

• 74% were confident the system provides fair trials, unchanged from 2023/24 and 2021/22
• 69% believed everyone can access the criminal justice system if needed, unchanged from 2023/24 but down from 74% in 2021/22
• 57% were confident that the criminal justice system was effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice, unchanged from 2023/24 and 2021/22.
• 53% felt that the criminal justice system provides victims of crime with the services and support they need, unchanged from 2023/24 and 2021/22

However, two measures had low levels of confidence:

• 36% were confident that the criminal justice system gives sentences which fit the crime, unchanged from 2023/24 but down from 41% in 2021/22
• 33% were confident that it deals with cases promptly and efficiently, unchanged from 2023/24 but down from 41% in 2021/22

A significant proportion of respondents answered "don't know" to some questions, highlighting ongoing gaps in public understanding.

For a full breakdown of trends over time, see Annex Table A16.

Figure 8.1: The majority of adults were either very or fairly confident about the delivery of the criminal justice system across a range of considerations.

Confidence in the operation of the criminal justice system.

Variables: QDCONF_01 – QDCONF_15.