This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Criminal Appeals Statistics 2005-06
28/11/2006
Figures released today show that a total of just over 2,800 criminal appeals against conviction and sentence were concluded in 2005/06, a decrease of 10 per cent compared with the previous year.
Other main findings include:
- A two per cent increase in completed appeals involving Solemn first instance courts was more than offset by a 17 per cent decrease involving appeals against decisions of summary first instance courts
- Between 2004/05 and 2005/06, the overall average duration of completed criminal appeals decreased by 19 per cent to 152 days, with decreases recorded for all classes of appeal except those from the High Court
- Appeals against conviction generally took much longer to complete than appeals against sentence only - 414 days vs 216 days for solemn appeals and 158 days vs 72 days for summary appeals
- 73 per cent of appeals involved cases where a custodial sentence had been imposed
- Of the total number of appeals completed in 2005/06, 55 per cent were refused at the sift stage or abandoned and 18 per cent were dismissed. The remaining appeals were sustained, either in relation to appeals against conviction (5 per cent) or against sentence (21 per cent)
The statistics release can also be viewed on the Scottish Executive Website on
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00538
In these statistics the term 'court of first instance' refers to the court in which the conviction/sentence being appealed was originally passed.