A blanket exoneration for the wrongfully convicted sub-postmasters in the Post Office scandal will be delivered by landmark legislation, the government has announced.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill, introduced on Wednesday, will clear the names of hundreds of postal workers and quash their convictions brought on by errors in the Horizon accounting software.
Dating back to the 1990s, the scandal led to convictions and imprisonment of Post Office workers.
“While I know that nothing can make up for what they’ve been through, today’s legislation marks an important step forward in finally clearing their names,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Under the proposed legislation, affected sub-postmasters will receive compensation of £600,000. Postmasters who weren’t convicted but suffered as a result of the scandal will receive £75,000 in redress payment.
“Postmasters have been fighting for justice for years, and I hope the introduction of today’s legislation is the light at the end of the tunnel they have been waiting for,” said postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake.
Under the legislation, convictions of postmasters who were prosecuted by the Post Office or Crown Prosecution Service, will be automatically quashed.
Among other criteria are convictions for offences carried out in connection with Post Office business between 1996 and 2018 for offences such as theft, fraud, and false accounting and against sub-postmasters and other employees that used the Horizon software.
Financial redress for the Post Office scandal victims was first implemented in March 2021, when the government paid out around £179 million to over 2,800 claimants via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme. The new bill is meant to speed up the “rightful redress” for victims.
Scotland
Ministers in Scotland and Northern Ireland will develop their own plans to address the matter of the convictions and payouts, the government said.Scotland’s Justice Secretary Angela Constance said the government’s decision to introduce a bill that doesn’t include the whole of the UK was “extremely disappointing.”
“It is not too late for the UK government to change their position but if this continues to be refused, we will introduce Scottish legislation that delivers justice for all those affected,” said Ms. Constance.
Holyrood will likely have to wait for the UK bill to be passed, before introducing its own legislation.
Blanket Coverage Risks
By allowing for blanket coverage legislation, the government risks quashing convictions of people who were guilty of a crime in the course of the Horizon scandal.The new legislation route also means that to overturn a conviction related to the scandal, there won’t be a requirement to go to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and through a Court of Appeal process.
Ministers have, however, argued that it is the most effective approach to deal with the mass miscarriage of justice.
The government said it will “make sure nobody who defrauded the system” will benefit from compensation funded by taxpayers.
Sub-postmasters will be required to sign a legal statement vowing that they did not commit the crime for which they were originally convicted. Any person found to have signed a statement falsely in order to gain financial redress may be guilty of fraud.
The long-running battle in the Horizon scandal received greater attention after ITV broadcast the drama “Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office.” The series centred on the story of former sub-postmaster Alan Bates, who has been campaigning for justice.
