Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 June 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the definition of "backlog" as referring to "the outstanding scheduled trials that are above the normal operating capacity of 20,000", as set out in the 2023 Auditor General report, Criminal courts backlog.
The definition of “backlog” in this context is referred to by the Auditor General report as the increase in criminal court cases waiting to be heard during the Covid 19 pandemic. At its peak, this reached 43,606 cases in January 2022.
The number of scheduled trials across all criminal business types has now returned to below 20,000. This is considered a manageable level of workload by Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service for the justice system.