Justice of the Peace Court
Justice of the Peace courts, known as ‘JP Courts’, deal with less serious summary crimes, such as speeding, careless driving and breach of the peace.
A Justice of the Peace is a lay magistrate from the local community who is trained in criminal law and procedure. More information is available here.
The most recent data shows that in 2023/24 Justice of the Peace Court activity saw:
- a decrease of 10% in the number of cases registered (19,681) from 2022/23 (21,756)
- a decrease of 6% in the number of evidence led trials (937) from in 2022/3 (999)
- a decrease in the volume of trials scheduled in 2022/23 by 34% to 3,181 when compared to 2023/24 (4,266)
- 1.5% of trials adjourned due to lack of court time in 2023/24. This was 1.0% in 2022/23 – 19,712 complaints concluded in 2023/24, 21% less than the number of complaints concluded in 2022/23 (24,893)
You can find more information here.
Scottish Court and Tribunal Service publications, including Corporate, Court and Court Users and People documents are available here for further information.