Publication - Statistics
Sentencing Trends in Scottish Courts, 2013-14 to 2022-23
Long term trends in sentences imposed by Scottish courts between 2013-14 and 2022-23. Data is broken down by crime/offence, penalty type and length of custodial sentence.
Proceedings and Convictions
Since 2013-14 the number of criminal proceedings in Scotland has decreased by 35%
- Between 2013-14 and 2019-20 proceedings were falling overall at a steady rate
- There was a sharp decrease in proceedings in 2020-21 because of court closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic
- In both 2021-22 and 2022-23, proceedings have increased as courts return to normal working procedures
- In 2022-23 proceedings are still slightly below the pre-pandemic numbers
- The number of convictions have followed the same pattern as criminal proceedings as the conviction rate has remained fairly consistent over the last 10 years
- During the peak of the pandemic in 2020-21, there was a small increase in the conviction rate, up to 91%
Criminal proceedings and convictions have fallen over the last decade
Figure 1: The number of court proceedings and convictions from 2013-14 to 2022-23
The decrease in convictions can be seen over all the major categories of crime and offence with the exception of sexual crimes.
- The number of convictions for sexual crimes are up by 25% compared with 2013-14.
- The greatest decrease was in crimes of dishonesty (which includes mostly thefts) where convictions were down 53% compared with 2013-14.
- The number of convictions for each crime and offence group all show a decrease in 2020-21 connecting with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Convictions have fallen for all categories of crime except sexual crime
Figure 2a: Number of convictions by crime category, 2013-14 to 2022-23
Convictions have fallen for all categories of offence
Figure 2b: Number of convictions by offence category, 2013-14 to 2022-23
Males consistently have more convictions than females
- In 2022-23 males accounted for 83% (56,375 convictions) of all convictions, a similar proportion as each year in the past ten years (range 82% to 83%).
- Convictions for both males and females have decreased since 2013-14, with a sharp decrease then recovery in the pandemic years.
Convictions have fallen for both males and females
Figure 3: Number of convictions by sex, 2013-14 to 2022-23