In 2022/23 there were 21,756 new court cases registered at Justice of the Peace courts in Scotland, compared with 57,226 new summary complaints registered at Sheriff Courts. These type of offences are relatively minor and do not require the presence of a jury, unlike more serious indictable offences that are tried at the Scottish High Courts.

Data tables and figures from the statistical bulletin in excel format. The data contained in these tables are from four sources: Crime Survey for England and Wales, Home Office police recorded crime, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Justice Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly Update.

Please note: The methodology by which the CSEW calculates its incidents of crime changed in December 2018. Incident numbers and rates published in the Bulletin Tables prior to the year ending September 2018 dataset are not comparable with those currently published.

In 2024, the United Kingdom had a Rule of Law Index score of 0.78, compared with 0.79 between 2020 and 2022, with the UK achieving its highest score between 2016 and 2018, when it was 0.81. Declining scores since 2018 imply that adherence to the rule of law has weakened in the UK in recent years.

Data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) on perceptions of the police, criminal justice system, crime and anti-social behaviour, and prevalence of intimate personal violence.

The crime rate in the United Kingdom was highest in England and Wales in 2023/24, at 89.7 crimes per 1,000 people, compared with Scotland which had 55 crimes per 1,000 population and Northern Ireland, at 52.3 crimes per 1,000 people. During this time period, the crime rate of England and Wales has usually been the highest in the UK, while Scotland's crime rate has declined the most, falling from 93.4 crimes per 1,000 people in 2002/03, to just 52.3 by 2021/22. Overall crime on the rise In 2022/23 there were approximately 6.74 million crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales, with this falling to 6.66 million in 2023/24. Although crime declined quite significantly between 2002/03 and 2013/14, this trend has been reversed in subsequent years. While there are no easy explanations for the recent uptick in crime, it is possible that reduced government spending on the police service was at least partly to blame. In 2009/10 for example, government spending on the police stood at around 19.3 billion pounds, with this cut to between 17.58 billion and 16.35 billion between 2012/13 and 2017/18. One of the most visible consequences of these cuts was a sharp reduction in the number of police officers in the UK. As recently as 2019, there were just 150,000 police officers in the UK, with this increasing to 171,000 by 2023. A creaking justice system During the period of austerity, the Ministry of Justice as a whole saw its budget sharply decline, from 9.1 billion pounds in 2009/10, to just 7.35 billion by 2015/16. Although there has been a reversal of the cuts to budgets and personnel in the justice system, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the depleted service hard in 2020. A backlog of cases grew rapidly, putting a strain on the ability of the justice system to process cases quickly. As of the first quarter of 2023, for example, it took on average 676 days for a crown court case to go from offence to conclusion, compared with 412 days in 2014. There is also the issue of overcrowding in prisons, with the number of prisoners in England and Wales dangerously close to operational capacity in recent months.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) asks a sole adult in a random sample of households about their, or their household's, experience of crime victimisation in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked, covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). These variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. In 2009, the survey was extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range was also selected from the household and asked about their experience of crime and other related topics. The first set of children's data covered January-December 2009 and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main study.The Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales (TCSEW) became operational on 20 May 2020. It was a replacement for the face-to-face CSEW, which was suspended on 17 March 2020 because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It was set up with the intention of measuring the level of crime during the pandemic. As the pandemic continued throughout the 2020/21 survey year, questions have been raised as to whether the year ending March 2021 TCSEW is comparable with estimates produced in earlier years by the face-to-face CSEW. The ONS Comparability between the Telephone-operated Crime Survey for England and Wales and the face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales report explores those factors that may have a bearing on the comparability of estimates between the TCSEW and the former CSEW. These include survey design, sample design, questionnaire changes and modal changes.More general information about the CSEW may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page.History - the British Crime SurveyThe CSEW was formerly known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), and has been in existence since 1981. The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland (data held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599). Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted. Up to 2001, the BCS was conducted biennially. From April 2001, the Office for National Statistics took over the survey and it became the CSEW. Interviewing was then carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles. The crime reference period was altered to accommodate this. Secure Access CSEW dataIn addition to the main survey, a series of questions covering drinking behaviour, drug use, self-offending, gangs and personal security, and intimate personal violence (IPV) (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are asked of adults via a laptop-based self-completion module (questions may vary over the years). Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questionnaires are included in the main documentation, but the data are only available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7280), not with the main study. In addition, from 2011 onwards, lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions (see SN 7311).New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onwards are based on a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old datasets are not, comparability has been lost with years prior to 2012-2013. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide (see SN 8464) and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’. No data available for 10-15 year-olds for 2022/23Data for 10-15-year-old respondents is not currently included in the 2022/23 study. The Office for National Statistics is currently assessing these data and deciding whether to include it for this year. The questionnaire for 10-15-year-olds has been included in the documentation and is also available on the ONS Crime and Justice Methodology webpage.

This dataset relates to quantitative information about sexual offences, their reporting and prosecution, which has been abstracted from the Annual Criminal Justice Statistics for England and Wales 1918-1970 (Command Papers series). The dataset was created as part of the ESRC-funded project ES/M009750/1 ‘Historicising “historical child sexual abuse” cases: social, political and criminal justice contexts’.

This research project will carry out rapid deck-based research, using very significant sets of online sources that are already available in digital form, but whose potential for research into the history of child sexual abuse has not been realized. It will cover four significant areas: (1) We will construct quantitative profiles of the extent of the reporting and convictions of sexual offences from 1918 to 1990, making use of the published Criminal Justice Statistics for England and Wales; (2) We will carry out a qualitative longitudinal study of the role of the national and local newspaper press in reporting cases of child sexual abuse, and in shaping social attitudes towards young people and sexuality in the period 1918-1990. The newspaper press was a crucial arena through which public opinion was shaped and shifting moralities were discussed and debated for much of the twentieth century. Whilst the press cannot be viewed as an unproblematic barometer of opinion, it provides historians with an important lens through which to access a range of viewpoints and to chart dominant tropes and narratives. A survey of the newspaper press also enables us to access reports of the decisions that were made in the court-room and thus to further explain the trends for reporting and conviction that analysis of the criminal justice statistics reveal; (3) We will examine the shifting viewpoints of key professional groups, including social workers and lawyers, by undertaking a survey of publications associated with these occupational groups; (4) We will begin a mapping of organisations, bodies and associations who have commented on and campaigned around issues relating to children and sexuality across the broad period 1918-1990. This initial mapping will involve research into the availability of archival and manuscripts sources (including those held in the National Archives and local repositories) and will form the basis of a further funding application. Our time-table is designed to coincide with the undertaking of the public enquiries and the preparation of the further report relating to the NHS and Department of Health Investigations. We will run seminars/workshops for civil servants, lawyers and other professionals involved in these investigations, and make our findings available in a free and easily accessible format as briefings on the History & Policy website. Thus our project will provide essential knowledge to shape discussion, debate, and inform the final public inquiry reports.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Offending, Crime and Justice Survey (OCJS) (also sometimes known as the Crime and Justice Survey), was the first national longitudinal, self-report offending survey for England and Wales. The series began in 2003, the initial survey representing the first wave in a planned four-year rotating panel study, and ended with the 2006 wave. A longitudinal dataset based on the four years of the study was released in 2009 (held at the Archive under SN 6345).

The OCJS was commissioned by the Home Office, with the overall objective of providing a solid base for measuring the prevalence of offending and drug use in the general population of England and Wales. The survey was developed in response to a significant gap in data on offending in the general population, as opposed to particular groups such as convicted offenders. A specific aim of the series was to monitor trends in offending among young people.

The OCJS series was designed as a 'rotating panel' which means that in each subsequent year, part of the previous year's sample was re-interviewed, and was augmented by a further 'fresh' sample to ensure a cross-sectional representative sample of young people. The aim of this design was to fulfil two objectives: firstly, to provide a solid cross-sectional base from which to monitor year-on-year measures of offending, drug use, and contact with the CJS over the four-year tracking period (2003-2006); and secondly, to provide longitudinal insight into individual behaviour and attitudinal changes over time, and to enable the Home Office to identify temporal links between and within the key survey measures.

The OCJS was managed by a team of researchers in the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. The Home Office commissioned BMRB Social Research and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to conduct the surveys jointly. Both organisations were involved in developing the surveys and, at each wave, the fieldwork was split between the two agencies.

OCJS 2005:
In 2005 the 'panel' sample included all respondents who had been previously interviewed and had agreed to be re-contacted. In addition to this, panel respondents from 2003, who were not interviewed in 2004 (due to being 'non contacts' or 'soft refusals') were also included. The intention in 2005 (as in 2004) was to achieve an overall sample (panel and 'fresh') of 5,000 young people. To achieve this, 423 'fresh' respondents were needed, but in fact 817 interviews were achieved, bringing the total sample up to 5,238.

The OCJS 2005 aimed to provide, as in previous years:

• measures of self-reported offending
• indicators of repeat offending
• trends in the prevalence of offending
• trends in the prevalence and frequency of drug and alcohol use
• evidence on the links between offending and drug/alcohol use
• evidence on the risk factors related to offending and drug use
• information on the nature of offences committed, such as the role of co-offenders and the relationship between perpetrators and victims

In order to ensure comparability between survey years, much of the 2005 questionnaire remained the same as that for 2004. However, some questions were dropped to make room for new questions relating to new areas of policy interest. In addition, a small number of existing questions were reworded where this represented a necessary improvement on the original version. See documentation for further details.

For the third edition (December 2008), the variable PFA (police force area) has been supplied for the main file. This variable was previously unavailable.

Main Topics:

The basic OCJS questionnaire comprises modules on the following topics:

• household grid (conducted using Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI))
• socio-demographic characteristics (CAPI)
• neighbourhood (CAPI)
• attitudes to the criminal justice system (CAPI)
• contact with criminal justice system (part 1) (CAPI)
• victimisation (CAPI)
• antisocial behaviour (conducted using Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (ACASI))
• white collar/'hi-tech' crime (ACASI)
• offending - count/follow-up (ACASI)
• offending - nature (conducted using Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing (CASI))
• contact with criminal justice system (part 2) (CASI)
• domestic violence (CASI)
• drinking (CASI)
• drug use (CASI)
• health, lifestyle and risk factors (CASI)
• reactions to the survey and recontact (CASI)

In addition to questionnaire data, the dataset also includes derived socio-economic and geo-demographic variables.

The data files included in the OCJS 2005 are as follows:

• 'main 10-25': main individual respondent-level...

Data from across the government on responses to and outcomes of child abuse cases and the criminal justice system.

In 2023/24 there were 25,205 crimes against public justice recorded by the police in Scotland, with the 2020/21 figure the highest for this type of crime since 2011/12, when there were 26,635 crimes of this type recorded.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Background: The Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), previously known as the British Crime Survey (BCS), has been in existence since 1981. The survey traditionally asks a sole randomly selected adult, in a random sample of households, details pertaining to any instances where they, or the household, has been a victim of a crime in the previous 12 months. These are recorded in the victim form data file (VF). A wide range of questions are then asked covering demographics and crime-related subjects such as attitudes to the police and the criminal justice system (CJS). Most of the questionnaire is completed in a face-to-face interview in the respondent's home; these variables are contained within the non-victim form (NVF) data file. Since 2009, the survey has been extended to children aged 10-15 years old; one resident of that age range has also been selected at random from the household and asked about incidents where they have been a victim of crime, and other related topics. The first set of children's data, covering January-December 2009, had experimental status, and is held separately under SN 6601. From 2009-2010, the children's data cover the same period as the adult data and are included with the main dataset. Further information may be found on the ONS Crime Survey for England and Wales web page and for the previous BCS, from the GOV.UK BCS Methodology web page. Self-completion data: A series of questions on drinking behaviour, drug use and intimate personal violence (including stalking and sexual victimisation) are administered to adults via a self-completion module which the respondent completes on a laptop computer. Children aged 10-15 years also complete a separate self-completion questionnaire. The questions are contained within the main questionnaire documents, but the data are not available with the main survey; they are available only under Secure Access conditions. Lower-level geographic variables are also available under Secure Access conditions to match to the survey. History: Up to 2001, the survey was conducted biennially. From April 2001, interviewing was carried out continually and reported on in financial year cycles and the crime reference period was altered to accommodate this change. The core sample size has increased from around 11,000 in the earlier cycles to over 40,000. Following the National Statistician's Review of Crime Statistics in June 2011 the collation and publication of Crime Statistics moved to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from 1st April 2012, and the survey changed its name to the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) accordingly. Scottish data: The 1982 and 1988 BCS waves were also conducted in Scotland. The England and Wales data for 1982 and 1988 are held at the UKDA under SNs 1869 and 2706, but the Scottish data for these studies are held separately under SNs 4368 and 4599. Since 1993, separate Scottish Crime and Justice Surveys have been conducted, see the series web page for more details.New methodology for capping the number of incidents from 2017-18The CSEW datasets available from 2017-18 onward are based upon a new methodology of capping the number of incidents at the 98th percentile. Incidence variables names have remained consistent with previously supplied data but due to the fact they are based on the new 98th percentile cap, and old data sets are not, comparability has been lost with previous years. More information can be found in the 2017-18 User Guide and the article ‘Improving victimisation estimates derived from the Crime Survey for England and Wales’. ONS intend to publish all micro data back to 1981 with incident data based on the 98th percentile cap later in 2019. The main CSEW 1996-2020 Secure Access dataset (SN 7280) includes:the adult and child data also held in the standard End User Licence (EUL) versionadult self-completion modules on drinking behaviour, drug use, stolen goods, children's self-completion modules and sexual identity and low-level geography variables formerly held under Special Licence access conditions (please note that not all modules occur for each year - see the survey year's documentation for details)hate crime variables HATEMT3A-HATEMT3I and HATEPS3A-HATEPS3I from the Victim Formthe interpersonal violence (IPV) data (comprising the modules on domestic violence, sexual victimisation and stalking)Users who do not require access to the modules noted above should apply for the EUL version. The Secure Access version has more restrictive access conditions than the standard EUL version - see the 'Access' tab. All studies in the series can be viewed from the Crime Survey for England and Wales series webpage. This study also includes the following low-level geography variables from 2008 onwards:Local Authority DistrictRural and Urban Area ClassificationPolice Force AreaONS District Level Classification: SupergroupONS District Level Classification: GroupONS District Level Classification: SubgroupOutput Area Classification - Supergroup (7 categories)Output Area Classification - Group (21 categories)Output Area Classification - Subgroup (52 categories)A further CSEW low-level geography file including variables down to Super Output Areas (Lower Layer) is available under separate Secure Access study SN 7311. Latest edition information: For the 12th edition (November 2023), a 'bolt-on' data file containing incident numbers for the 2011-2012 Victim Form, and an accompanying data dictionary, were added to the study.

This dataset is about books and is filtered where the book subjects is Sex discrimination in criminal justice administration-England, featuring 9 columns including author, BNB id, book, book publisher, and book subjects. The preview is ordered by publication date (descending).

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

This teaching dataset is based on the Crime Survey for England and Wales, 2017-2018 (CSEW) (held by the UK Data Service under SN 8464). It contains data for all 34,715 cases from the CSEW 2017-2018 (adult non-victim form dataset) for a selection of variables.

The data contains 114 variables covering the following topics:

• demographic details
• perceptions of crime
• experience of crime
• antisocial behaviour
• attitudes towards the Criminal Justice System

Most variables are individual variables, and require individual based analysis. Household-level variables include the number of adults (nadults) and children (nchil2). There is a mix of discrete and continuous variables. A full list of variable names, labels and frequency distributions in the teaching dataset are provided in the user guide. The documentation for the main CSEW 2017-2018 (SN 8464) includes a copy of the questionnaire.

Main Topics:

This is an Official Statistics bulletin produced by statisticians in the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics, which brings together, for the first time, a range of official statistics from across the crime and criminal justice system, providing an overview of hate crime in England and Wales.The report is structured to highlight: the victim experience; recording and detecting the crimes and how the various criminal justice agencies deal with an offender once identified, for different strands of hate crime.

Source agency: Home Office

Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: An Overview of Hate Crime in England and Wales

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The aim of the study was to describe and analyse the extent and nature of United States influence on United Kingdom criminal justice policy during the 1990s. More specifically, the researchers set out to:

• develop detailed case histories of policy change in the key areas associated with the UK learning from US developments (such as privatized corrections, zero tolerance policing, and 'two' and 'three strikes' sentencing);
• assess critically the extent to which these developments were actually informed and shaped by US influences;
• analyse the key processes of policy transfer between the US and UK, and
• to describe and analyse the development of transnational policy networks in criminal justice.

The first stage of the research involved a detailed collation and review of documentary sources in each of the key areas of policy change -- government publications, parliamentary and congressional debates and reports, newspaper archives, pressure group and think tank publications, and academic books and journals. Following this initial mapping of case histories of policy change, around 100 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key players in the policy process, both in the UK and in the USA, including politicians, policy makers, journalists, representatives of pressure groups and NGOs, academics and criminal justice professionals.

Main Topics:

This data collection contains transcripts of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 33 criminal justice professionals, policy-makers and politicians. Each interivew is between 30 and 90 minutes in length and explores one of three areas of concern:

• zero tolerance policing;
• 'three strikes' sentencing;
• the privatisation of corrections in either the UK or USA.