Median journey times (date of offence to date of verdict) in 2023-24 were around two years and 10 months in High court and one year and seven months in Sheriff solemn courts. This compares to around eight months in Sheriff summary and nine months in JP courts.

Compared to 2022-23, overall, median journey times decreased by one month in High Court and JP Court and two months in Sheriff summary court. However, median journey times in Sheriff solemn court increased by two months in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23.

The types of charges faced by an accused affects their journey time, with the longest times occurring for accused persons charged with sexual crimes in the High court.

For non-historic sexual offences, the median offence to verdict time for an accused in High court has remained similar to 2022-23 at around three years.

For historic sexual offences, the median offence to verdict time for an accused in High court in 2023-24 was just over 11 years. This is a reduction of over two years from 2022-23.

Additionally, for historic offences, the time taken for offences to be reported to the police can be lengthy and in many cases is the driver of long journey times.