Shortly after Scottish police reported the lowest levels in crime rates in almost four decades, statistics revealed by chief constable Sir Stephen House showed that some parts of Scotland are witnessing a sudden, sharp rise in "acquisitive" crimes and sexual offences. Acquisitive crime includes burglary, robbery, and other types of [...]

The number of firearms offences in Scotland has reached the lowest level in a decade since records began, after rates fell by almost a third in a year, figures from a new report by the country's Chief Statistician revealed. In 2012/2013, there were 365 firearms offences registered, down on 535 [...]

Campaigners have urged Scottish motorists to switch off their mobile phones when driving in a bid to improve general road safety. Statistics reveal that almost 85,000 drivers in Scotland have been given points for talking on their phones while driving. These figures suggest that current measures are not effective enough, [...]

A senior Scottish judge has announced that Scotland's justice system should take a more civilised approach to sentencing, and place more weight on rehabilitation rather than retribution. Currently, judges are not entitled to determine what rehabilitation measures can be put in place after sentencing offenders but Lord Carloway, Scotland's second [...]

The 2012/2013 Scottish Policing Performance Framework (SPPF) report revealed 809,483 crimes and offences for the final year of the eight regional police forces. According to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, this is the lowest number recorded in nearly four decades, noting that a particularly encouraging development is the sharp drop in [...]

Lord Hope of Craighead, former deputy president of the UK Supreme Court and Lord Justice General of Scotland until 1996, has raised concerns over plans to abolish a critical safeguard in Scottish law. His fear relates to the proposed removal of corroboration, which could lead to convictions being based on [...]