What happens next? The criminal process step by step

1. Stopped by police

An officer may speak to you, ask questions or search you. Since 2017 police in Scotland can only search someone not in custody using a specific legal power or warrant, never 'by consent' (Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 s.65). Being stopped is not the same as being arrested.

A person required to stay while details are checked can be kept only briefly, while verification can be obtained quickly (CP(S)A 1995 s.13).

• If an officer reasonably suspects you of an offence (or believes you are a witness), you must give your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality; refusing without reasonable excuse is an offence (CP(S)A 1995 s.13).
• Beyond those details you do not have to answer questions or explain yourself.
• You should be told why you are being searched and can ask for a record of the search.
• Drivers must stop when directed and give their name and address.

• Was the search or stop lawful?
• Should I say anything about what happened?
• How do I complain to Police Scotland or the PIRC?

2. Voluntary interview

Police may invite you to attend a police station or other place to be interviewed as a suspect without arresting you. You are not in custody and are free to leave, although police could decide to arrest you. It is a formal interview and anything you say can be used as evidence.

• Right to have a solicitor present during the interview (CJ(S)A 2016 s.32); police must not start until your solicitor is there unless you consent.
• Free legal advice at the police station through the Solicitor Contact Line.
• Right to remain silent; Scotland has no rule allowing silence to be held against you.
• Right to leave unless arrested.

• Should I attend, and when?
• Should I answer questions or give a prepared statement?
• What do the police already know?

3. Arrest

A constable can arrest without a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to suspect you have committed or are committing an offence (CJ(S)A 2016 s.1). You must be told you are under arrest, the general nature of the offence and the reason, and then be taken to a police station as quickly as reasonably practicable.

You must be taken to a police station as quickly as reasonably practicable (s.4). The 12-hour custody clock starts when a sergeant authorises custody there, not at the moment of arrest.

• To be told you are under no obligation to say anything except your name, address, date of birth, place of birth and nationality (s.3, s.34).
• To have a solicitor told you are in custody and to consult a solicitor (ss.43-44).
• To be released if officers decide there are no longer reasonable grounds for suspicion (s.4(2)).

• Why was I arrested and is it lawful?
• What happens next?

4. In police custody

A sergeant not involved in the case decides whether keeping you in custody is necessary and proportionate. You can be held without charge for up to 12 hours, reviewed by an inspector at 6 hours. Before the end you must be charged, released, or an extension authorised.

12 hours without charge from authorisation (s.9). One extension of a further 12 hours (24 total) by an inspector (chief inspector if under 18), only for an indictable offence and a diligent investigation (s.11). Then you must be charged or released. Terrorism cases differ.

• Private consultation with a solicitor at any time, including by phone (s.44); free legal advice.
• To have a reasonably named adult told where you are (s.38). For under-16s a parent is told automatically; 16-17s can choose, and social work is always informed about under-18s (s.41).
• To make representations, yourself or through a solicitor, before an extension is decided.
• An appropriate adult if you have a mental disorder affecting understanding or communication (s.42).

• Is my detention and any extension lawful?
• Should I be interviewed now?
• What bail or release conditions might apply?

5. Police interview

Officers ask you questions about the suspected offence, usually recorded. You can answer, stay silent or give a prepared statement after legal advice. Once you are charged ('officially accused'), police cannot question you further about that offence without a court's authorisation (s.35).

Interview happens within the custody time limit (12 hours, or 24 if extended).

• Right to have a solicitor present; police must wait for your solicitor unless you consent to go ahead without one (s.32).
• Since 30 March 2026 under-18s cannot waive this right, and nor can adults who cannot understand because of a mental disorder (s.33).
• Right to silence: you only have to give your identity details, and Scotland has no adverse-inference rule for staying silent.
• An interpreter if you need one.

• Should I answer questions, stay silent or give a statement?
• What evidence do police say they have?

6. Police decide what happens next

Police can release you without charge, release you on investigative liberation (conditions while they investigate), charge you and release you on an undertaking to appear at court, charge you and keep you for court, or report the case to the procurator fiscal. For some minor offences they may give a recorded police warning or antisocial behaviour fixed penalty instead.

Investigative liberation conditions last at most 28 days from when first imposed (s.17). If kept for court, you must appear, if practicable, on the first day the court is sitting after the day you were charged (s.21).

• You can apply to a sheriff to review investigative liberation conditions (s.19).
• You can refuse a recorded police warning; the case would then go to the fiscal.
• A recorded police warning is not a conviction and is spent immediately.

• What do my conditions or undertaking mean?
• Should I accept a warning?
• Can conditions be changed?

7. Procurator fiscal decision

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) decides in the public interest whether there is enough evidence (normally corroborated) and what to do. Options: no action, a direct measure (fiscal warning, fiscal fine up to £500, fiscal compensation up to £5,000, fiscal work order of 10-50 hours, diversion), summary prosecution, or solemn prosecution (jury trial).

Most statutory summary-only offences must be prosecuted within 6 months unless a specific statute says otherwise (CP(S)A 1995 s.136). Common law crimes have no general time limit. A fiscal fine offer can be refused within 28 days; otherwise it is deemed accepted.

• Direct measures are not convictions; fiscal fines and similar offers become spent after 3 months, warnings immediately.
• You can refuse a fiscal offer and have the case decided by a court.
• You can make representations to the fiscal through a solicitor.

• Should I accept or refuse the fiscal's offer?
• What court and procedure is likely?
• Is legal aid available?

8. Custody court or first calling

Summary cases: at the first calling (pleading diet) you plead guilty or not guilty and bail is decided. Solemn cases: you appear on petition in private before a sheriff, usually make no plea, and are committed for further examination, then fully committed later, with bail decided.

Bail must be decided at the first appearance or by the end of the next court day (s.22A). Full committal on petition usually follows about a week later. Custody cases can be heard in any sheriff court in Scotland since 1 December 2025.

• Right to a solicitor at court; the duty solicitor can act if you have none.
• Bail must be granted unless the court finds good reason to refuse it: refusal must be necessary for public safety (including protecting the complainer) or to prevent a significant risk to the interests of justice (s.23B, in force 14 May 2025).
• Right to appeal a bail refusal.

• How should I plead?
• Can I get bail and what conditions apply?
• Is legal aid available?

9. Intermediate diet, first diet or preliminary hearing

Summary: at the intermediate diet the court checks whether both sides are ready for trial and whether you still plead not guilty. Sheriff and jury: a first diet checks readiness. High Court: a preliminary hearing deals with preliminary issues and fixes the trial. Pleas can be changed at these hearings.

Solemn (remanded): indictment within 80 days of full committal; first diet or preliminary hearing within 110 days; trial within 140 days. Solemn (bail): first diet or preliminary hearing within 11 months and trial within 12 months of first appearance. Summary (remanded): trial within 40 days. Courts can extend; cases started before 1 December 2025 may keep longer Covid-era limits.

• Right to see the evidence disclosed by the Crown.
• Right to lodge special defences and preliminary pleas through your solicitor.
• Right to object to extensions of time limits.

• Has the Crown disclosed everything?
• Should I change my plea?
• What witnesses are needed?

10. Trial

Summary trials are decided by a sheriff or justice of the peace alone; solemn trials are before a jury of 15. The Crown must prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. For trials starting on or after 1 January 2026 the only verdicts are guilty or not guilty, and a guilty jury verdict needs at least 10 of 15 jurors.

Trial dates are subject to the statutory time limits above.

• Presumption of innocence.
• Right not to give evidence, and to call your own witnesses.
• Right to legal representation, often with legal aid.
• In some sexual offence cases you cannot conduct your own defence.

• Should I give evidence?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Crown case?

11. Sentence

After a guilty plea or verdict the court may adjourn for reports, defer sentence for good behaviour, or sentence immediately. Options include admonition, absolute discharge, fine, compensation order, community payback order, restriction of liberty order, drug treatment and testing order, driving ban and custody. Courts follow Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines.

Adjournment for reports is limited to 4 weeks at a time (8 weeks on cause shown). Short-term prisoners (under 4 years) are released automatically at 30% of the sentence since 12 May 2026 (50% for sexual and domestic abuse offences).

• Right to make a plea in mitigation through your solicitor.
• Custody of 12 months or less must not be imposed unless no other method is appropriate (CP(S)A 1995 s.204(3A)).
• After a guilty plea the court must say whether the plea reduced the sentence and, if not, why (s.196).

• What sentence range is realistic?
• How long until my conviction is spent?
• Should I appeal?

12. Appeal

Summary appeals go to the Sheriff Appeal Court; solemn appeals go to the High Court of Justiciary as the appeal court. Leave (permission) is needed, granted if there are arguable grounds. The Crown can appeal an unduly lenient sentence. After appeals are exhausted, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission can refer cases.

Summary: apply for a stated case within 1 week of the final decision; sentence-only note of appeal within 1 week. Solemn: intimation of intention to appeal within 2 weeks, then note of appeal within 8 weeks; sentence-only note within 2 weeks. Late appeals need the court's permission.

• Right to appeal conviction and/or sentence, with leave.
• Legal aid may be available for appeals.
• You can apply to the SCCRC with no time limit.

• Are there arguable grounds of appeal?
• Could the sentence increase on a Crown appeal?
• Can I get bail pending appeal?