The document provides data about the distribution of total expenditure, costs of various disposals, costs of different types of court cases, expenditure on prosecution and Criminal Legal Aid by type of case and information on sheriff court income from fines. It also includes profiles of sentencing practice in the district and sheriff courts. The sentencing profiles furnish information on the financial implications of sentencing decisions and make sentencing information more widely available to assist in improving clarity and consistency in sentencing practice. A total of 138,700 fines were handled by the district courts in 1997-98, including 62,100 court fines, 73,800 registered fines and 2,800 compensation orders. Eighty-four percent of court fines, 76 percent of registered fines and 82 percent of compensation orders were fully paid. Just under 8,000 fines and compensation orders resulted in the issue of an extract conviction warrant. The report provides the numbers and percentages of persons with a charge proved who were given custody, community service, probation, and a fine, by type of court. It also describes the distribution of amount of fine and custodial sentence length. Tables, notes