Out-of-court disposals

One of several methods of concluding the action of the criminal justice system in respect of a crime without proceeding to a prosecution. They are administered by the police and help them to deal quickly and proportionately with low-level, often first-time offences. They include:

• cautions;
• cannabis warnings;
• penalty notices for disorder; and
• community resolutions.

Some have a statutory basis and some don’t; we explain this in our 2014 report ‘Crime-recording: making the victim count’.

In 2022, the Government legislated for a change to adult out-of-court disposals. The new framework will reduce the number of adult out-of-court disposals from six to two, comprising an upper tier disposal titled ‘Diversionary caution’ and a lower tier disposal titled ‘Community caution’. The intention is for the police to gradually move to the new system. The out-of-court disposal system for children will remain unchanged.

In 2023, the National Police Chiefs’ Council announced that out-of-court disposals would be referred to as out-of-court resolutions. But until the terminology is updated in legislation, there is a transition period in which ‘disposals’ may still be used.

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