The number of proceedings for these crimes increased by 32 per cent to 324 proceedings in 2018-19, and the conviction rate was 47 per cent.

The number of proceedings for sexual assault in 2018-19 increased by nine per cent, and the number of convictions fell by three per cent to 292, entailing a six percentage point fall in the conviction rate for these crimes.

The number of people convicted of sexual crimes increased by nine per cent in 2018-19 to 1,215 convictions. This is 46 per cent higher than at the start of the last decade (832 convictions in 2009-10). There has been a corresponding rise in the number of people being proceeded against in court for sexual crimes, up 73 per cent since 2009-10 from 1,016 proceedings to 1,762 in 2018-19, 12 per cent higher than in 2017-18.

The total number of people proceeded against in Scottish courts fell by six per cent to 89,733 in the year to 2018-19. This is the same as the fall in the number of people convicted, down six per cent to 78,503.

This continues the general downward trend of the last 10 years. Falls in convictions for breach of the peace and common assault continued in 2018-19, down 13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively. There were also notable falls in the number of convictions for crimes against public justice (down 11 per cent), dangerous and careless driving (down 18 per cent), and drugs crimes (down eight per cent).