Court figures show criminal case levels for 2021-22
Business in the Scottish criminal courts roughly doubled in the 2021-22 financial year compared to the previous year, but overall was some way below pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest quarterly bulletin from Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service.
Overall, 85,567 first instance criminal cases were registered in Scottish courts in 2021-22, a 12% increase from 2020-21 and 81% of 2019-20 pre-COVID levels. The number of trials scheduled, an indication of system capacity, was up by 8% to 40,923 at the end of March 2022 compared with 12 months previously; 65,297 trials were called in 2021-22, more than double the 30,217 called in 2020-21, while evidence led trials also more than doubled from 3,545 to 7,505 – 74% of the 2019-20 volume. Cases concluded rose by 78% to 82,147, or 87% of pre-COVID figures.
In the High Court of Justiciary, the 745 indictments registered in 2021-22 was down 3% compared to the 767 in 2020-21, and stood at 73% of pre-COVID levels. However 577 evidence led trials took place compared with 278 in 2020/21, a figure 16% higher than pre-COVID volumes, and the 756 indictments concluded were up 66% on the previous year (455) to 94% of pre-COVID levels.
Solemn business in the sheriff court saw 11,769 petitions registered in 2021-22, a rise of 6% from 2020-21 and an additional 20% higher than 2019-20; indictments registered rose 19% to 5,759, 6% higher than pre-COVID volumes. Evidence led trials, at 907, were up by 360% when compared to 2020-21, reaching 80% of pre-COVID levels. Indictments concluded, at 5,132, were comparable to the 2019-20 volume of 5,155.
Sheriff summary business saw a 3% rise in the volume of complaints registered between 2020-21 and 2021-22, to 85% of 2019-20 volumes. Domestic abuse cases continued to make up 25% of the total. Evidence led trials rose by 102% from 2,721 in 2020-21 to 5,503 in 2021-22, or 79% of the 2019-20 figure; complaints concluded were up 67% to 54,201, 95% of the 2019-20 total.
In the justice of the peace court, cases concluded reached 72% of the 2019-20 volume after a 121% rise on 2020-21.
Criminal appeal business has dropped markedly over the past seven years, down by 48% since 2014-15 to 773 appeals, of which 42% were summary appeals and 58% solemn; 450 were taken to the High Court and 323 to the Sheriff Appeal Court. Of the appeals registered in 2021-22, 15% relate to appeal solely against conviction, 65% to appeal solely against sentence and 20% to a joint appeal against conviction and sentence, following the trend of previous years.
Sustained appeals expressed as a percentage of registered appeals rose from 11% in 2014-15 to 23% in 2021-22. This is due to lower level of registered appeals impacting the percentage rather than a significant change in sustainment. Appeals against sentence accounted for 87% of all sustained appeals in 2021-22.
Access the official statistics series here.