COURT closures are to blame for a drop in the proportion of cases concluded within the target time, it has been claimed.
Figures show that the percentage of sheriff court cases dealt with within 26 weeks fell from 75.7 per cent to 70.9 per cent between 2009/10 and 2013/14.
In justice of the peace (JP) courts the proportion of cases meeting the target fell from 77.8 per cent to 73.2 per cent.
At the same time the total number of cases being dealt with by sheriff courts fell by 14 per cent to 56,815 while JP cases dropped nine per cent to 47,571.
Scottish Court Service plans to close 10 sheriff courts and seven justice of the peace courts were accepted by the Scottish Government and backed by MSPs last year.
Opponents of the cuts warned the remaining courts would struggle to cope with the increased workload.
The figures were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives under Freedom of Information legislation. The party's justice spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell called for the decision to be reversed.
She said: "These delays are costly and expensive and totally unfair on taxpayers, and on victims and their families."
A Scottish Court Service spokesman said: "The long-term trend in crime and court registrations is downward, however, during 2013-14 there was a significant increase in domestic abuse and sexual offence cases as well as increased road traffic offences."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "This is an operational matter for the Scottish Court Service.
"However, 95 per cent of court business is unaffected by recent changes to court structures and SCS has confirmed that they have capacity within courts to deal with current and anticipated cases."
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