Exclusive:Justice Denied: The 9,000 criminal cases dropped due to delays in legal 'scandal'

In what has been described as a “scandal” that could leave victims questioning why they reported crimes in the first place, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) took no action in more than 9,000 cases hit by hold-ups.

Although the majority of the cases are understood to involve minor statutory offences, legal sources said some included more serious charges, such as drug dealing and firearms offences.

As The Scotsman reported on Monday as part of its week-long series, Justice Denied, Scotland’s criminal justice system remains under intense pressure, with a remaining backlog of nearly 22,000 scheduled trials, coupled with a growing number of serious and complex criminal cases and lengthy waits for court proceedings to conclude that can often be counted in years, not months.

But for many other victims and complainants, the problem of cases not proceeding at all due to delays that are largely beyond the control of prosecutors and the courts is also having a deleterious impact.

Official COPFS data shows that between 2019/20 and 2023/24, no action was taken in some 5,355 cases as a result of delays on the part of Police Scotland or the dozens of other agencies who can report cases to prosecutors.

There were a further 3,733 cases that did not proceed over the five-year period because they were time-barred on receipt. No action was taken in a small number of cases - 80 in all - due to delays on the part of procurator fiscals.

The 9,168 cases in question accounts for 12 per cent of the total number of ‘no action’ cases over the period, and constitute an even smaller proportion of the nearly 772,000 criminal cases reported to the COPFS. Other reasons why prosecutors may not proceed with cases include lack of admissible evidence, or a belief that a civil remedy would be more appropriate.

However, opposition politicians said the numbers involved still demonstrated the problems facing the justice system. Scottish Labour’s justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: “These astonishing figures lay bare the chaos engulfing our justice system on the SNP’s watch. It is a scandal that cases are collapsing as a result of the lengthy delays plaguing our justice system.

“Too many victims of crime are stuck in our justice system for years on end, and some are being deprived of justice altogether. This is the dismal reality of the SNP’s mismanagement..”

Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary, said: “These troubling figures expose the SNP’s chronic underfunding of Scotland’s justice system over a number of years.

“Justice delayed often ends up meaning justice is denied for victims who have already suffered enough trauma, especially when a case has been dropped due to time-bar breaches which may leave victims questioning why they reported the crime in the first place.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “The Scottish Government should be doing everything possible to ensure cases are proceeding efficiently through the system. I am particularly concerned by the significant rise in cases dropped because of time-bars and delays.”

A comparison with historic COPFS data shows the problems surrounding time-barred reports intensified even before the pandemic. Across the five years between 2009/10 and 2013/14, for example, the number of cases unable to proceed for that reason was just 1,854. However, the number of such cases being dropped has gradually fallen in the past five years.

Stuart Munro, convener of the Law Society of Scotland's criminal law committee, said: “What these figures underline is the complexity of Scotland's criminal justice system, and how resourcing or other issues in any one part of the system can and do have negative consequences in other parts of the system. It is on this basis that we continue to push for proper resourcing for all parts of the system, including police, the judiciary and criminal defence.”

Police Scotland’s Chief Superintendent Pat Campbell said: “We are committed to professionally and thoroughly investigating all reported crimes and refer individuals to the procurator fiscal in a timely manner.

“We know delays impact all involved and we work closely with the Scottish Government, the COPFS and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to tackle inefficiencies in the criminal justice system to improve the service provided to victims of crime.

“This includes reviewing reporting mechanisms and protocols, such as direct measures, alongside COPFS to prevent low-level cases entering the system unnecessarily and progressing others to court more efficiently.”

John Logue, the Crown Agent and chief executive of the COPFS, said: “Where there are delays in reports or time bars aren’t met and that means ‘no action’, our focus is on looking for anything we can learn.

“There is a downward trend of these cases and they are a relatively small number as a proportion of the total casework. I’m not ignoring the fact that circumstances of individual cases may have affected people’s lives, but I think we’ve got the right response at the moment, although we’re not complacent about it.”

Justice secretary Angela Constance said: “While the Scottish Government has no role in this, I note that the number of cases where no action was taken because of delays by police or procurator fiscals constitutes less than 1 per cent of these cases. Arrangements for reporting suspected offences to the COPFS are for the police and other reporting agencies and decisions on proceeding with cases are for COPFS.

“The 2025/26 Budget, if passed by Parliament, includes almost £4.2 billion across the justice system. The Budget also includes resource funding of £225.2m for COPFS - an increase of 10.7 per cent. This includes £3.5m to support efforts to comply with legislative timescales.”