Absolute discharge

Where a person has pleaded guilty or been convicted of an offence, in certain circumstances the judge may, instead of imposing a sentence (and on summary complaint instead of convicting), discharge that person absolutely. No penalty is imposed, and in summary proceedings no conviction is recorded. The definition of this term is available here.

The most recent data shows that in 2022/23 there were 666 cases with absolute discharge in Scotland. You can find more information here.

(System exit point)