Criminal proceedings in Scotland

Scotland's Chief Statistician has recently published data on criminal proceedings in Scotland during 2010-11. The publication presents statistics on court proceedings and sentencing, as well as statistics on bail orders and undertakings.

The key findings of the statistics are:

• A total of 115,398 people were convicted in 2010-11, a decrease of 5% on the previous year.
• Around 89% of people proceeded against in Scottish courts in 2010-11 were convicted, up from 88% in 2009-10.
• The number of people with a charge proved fell for most crime groups including serious assault and attempted murder which fell by 7% (from 1,507 in 2009-10 to 1,406 in 2010-11), crimes of dishonesty and handling offensive weapons, which fell by 14% (from 2,866 to 2,473). Numbers increased for a handful of crime groups, including sexual assault, which increased by 8% (from 260 in 2009-10 to 280 in 2010-11) and 'other' non-sexual crimes of violence, which increased by 56% (from 305 in 2009-10 to 476 in 2010-11).
• The number of custodial sentences imposed by courts was 15,268, 3% down on 2009-10, although as a proportion of all main penalties, the use of custody remained at 13%.
• The average length of custodial sentences in 2010-11 was just over nine months (277 days).
• Anti-Social Behaviour Fixed Penalty Notices were issued to 54,243 people as a main penalty in 2010-11, down 11% from 61,208 in 2009-10; the vast majority were issued for three of the ten offences for which they are available; 46% for consuming alcohol in a public place, 25% for breach of the peace and 23% for urinating etc.