A quarter of all cases which involve a suspect being held in custody in Glasgow are related to domestic abuse, according to a pioneering new prosecution unit.

The domestic abuse unit, the first of its kind in Scotland, was set up by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and started work in April. The unit has seen an increase in domestic abuse cases being reported to the fiscal in Glasgow during its first three months in operation, a total of 982, approximately 25% of the total number of overnight custodies reported to the procurator fiscal.

Information from the Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service of the COPFS, which deals with all cases of domestic abuse, suggests that the number of cases prosecuted during the same period in the previous year was significantly less, around 35%, than the new unit has dealt with.

The unit is responsible for investigating, marking preparation and prosecuting any cases reported by the three divisions of Strathclyde Police in Glasgow, part of a move within the fiscal service towards specialisation and concentrating on specific types of crime.

Glasgow was chosen for the specialist unit because of the size of the city and the huge volume of domestic abuse cases. It was also set up in response to the expansion of Glasgow's Domestic Abuse Court, founded in 2004. The court has specially trained sheriffs and prosecutors and fast-tracks domestic abuse cases, while providing specialist support and advocacy for victims. Working with the Domestic Abuse Court, the new unit aims to improve the efficiency of the prosecution process and provide a specialist resource.

A team of specially trained prosecutors and support staff from the three Glasgow procurator fiscal divisions were brought together, with the hope that by having a unit which deals solely with the marking of domestic abuse cases, the procurator fiscal can make a more concentrated effort to ensure consistency and best practice in its approach to prosecutions related to the cases. Staff working for the unit will be rotated in order to spread their experience.

"The unit is very much about improving the service that we provide to victims, and improving the service that we can provide to the domestic abuse court, given that we have this unique court, and making sure that prosecutions are efficient and timely," said Anne Marie Hicks, head of the new unit. "Our ultimate aim is contributing to make people safer, and hoping that, if the police get it right in the investigation reporting stage, and if the prosecutors get it right at the prosecution stage, you will get an improved service, and you'll hopefully provide that crucial early intervention that might actually stop the pattern of abuse.

"Domestic abuse is very common on Saturdays and Sunday nights, so it's not uncommon for us to have a huge number of cases on a Monday. Sometimes that figure go can well over 25%. It can sometimes be as many as one-third of our Monday custodies, so the figures are really significant."

The Strathclyde area alone has had a 14% increase in the number of domestic abuse incidents being reported to Strathclyde Police, with 27,593 incidents in 2008-09, compared to 24,197 in 2007-08.

Scotland as a whole has also experienced a year-on-year increase in domestic abuse incidents, with 49,655 incidents recorded by police in 2007-08, compared to 48,801 the previous year, an increase of 2%. The 2006-7 figure saw a rise of 7% from the previous year.

Lesley Thomson, the area procurator fiscal for Glasgow, said the Crown Office wants the new unit to send out a clear message that crimes related to domestic abuse are regarded as serious criminal behaviour.

"Part of our overall aim in everything we deal with is to make sure we play our part in reducing offending," she said. "We would expect that if our part of the process is working, then ultimately that's what would happen. It wouldn't become, as it still is in some parts of Scotland and particularly in the west, acceptable in some way to behave violently in the home, when it's not acceptable to behave that way in the street, for example, witha stranger."

Thomson added that she did not find the rise in domestic abuse cases being reported to the fiscal unusual, due to a recent emphasis by the police on combating domestic abuse. In December, the Strathclyde Police Domestic Abuse Task Force was set up to crack down on high tariff and repeat offenders. The task force also enforces measures such as special bail conditions, when the police monitor an offender to check he or she isn't breaching bail conditions by approaching the victim, or the victim's home.

"Our experience is that, when we've targeted different types of crime, there'll be a rise in reporting to us, which almost seems as if it's the opposite of what you're trying to achieve but it's because people are feeling safer in coming forward," Thomson said. "Ultimately, if our role along with the police and other organisations works, we would hope there will be a drop off in those figures."

She said that external help in tackling domestic abuse was crucial, along with a coordinated response from the COPFS, the police and ASSIST, the dedicated support advocacy service for the court.

The new unit works closely with Strathclyde Police, exchanging information and offering advice and guidance, and ASSIST and the police also share intelligence through methods such as multi-agency risk-assessment conferences, when the police and the advocacy service primarily take the lead to assess victims and look at what measures can be put in place to protect the victim and target the offender.

"It's part of trying to effect cultural change. It's not something the prosecution can do alone," Thomson said. "There are sound reasons for showing that concentrated efforts on other types of offending have worked, so we're confident that we will make some difference in this area."

Mhairi McGowan, manager of ASSIST, said: "A co-ordinated community response is the best way to tackle domestic abuse and other forms of violence against women.Victims face particular difficulties when giving evidence against their partners, and prosecuting crimes that involve domestic abuse can be complex, so specialist staff are vital."

Janette de Haan of the Women's Support Project, welcomed the new unit, and said that it is important that the domestic abuse court is supported by outside agencies with dedicated staff. She added: "The new move will hopefully streamline the response from the procurator fiscal service, making the process more effective. It is important that public and voluntary sector organisations continue to work together to influence responses on all aspects of violence against women."

Heather Coady, a spokesperson for Scottish Women's Aid, said: "We welcome this specialist approach to domestic abuse on the part of fiscals. This will hopefully improve women's confidence in coming forward and reporting domestic abuse."

Fact file The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service defines domestic abuse as "any form of physical, sexual or mental and emotional abuse which might amount to criminal conduct and which takes place within the context of a relationship. The relationship will be between partners ... or ex-partners. The abuse can be committed in the home or elsewhere". If there is sufficient evidence in domestic abuse cases involving violence, there is a presumption in favour of prosecution. Cases are held in the Sheriff or High Court. It's estimated domestic abuse accounts for 20 to 25% of offenders reported to custody in Glasgow. An equivalent of one domestic abuse incident every 10 minutes is recorded in Scotland. There has been a 14% rise in the number of incidents reported to Strathclyde Police to 27,593 in 2008/09 from 24,197 in 2007/08. There were 75 homicides and 2835 serious assaults linked to domestic abuse in Scotland between 2000 and 2008.