How will justice be served for those affected by the Post Office scandal, and what can the government do?
A new initiative to bring justice to the Post Office’s 700 sub-postmasters has been launched in the wake of an ITV drama detailing the Horizon scandal, which took place between 1999 and 2015.
Hundreds of people were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting charges due to a computer system error, but only a handful of them were reversed.
According to former Attorney General Robert Buckland, many MPs and former ministers have urged the government to “recognize these exceptional circumstances by asking Parliament to pass legislation, thereby ensuring that clear wrongs are righted.” We ask that you provide support.
This bill would erase the names of people who were wrongfully convicted.
But how else will justice be served?
All convictions may be vacated
The most talked about option is the possibility of vacating all convictions related to the Horizon system, possibly through the new bill proposed above.
However, there are also references to the case being sent to the Court of Appeal or being reviewed on a case-by-case basis (which will likely take several years).
Introducing legislation to revoke convictions would be the quickest way for the government to deliver justice to those who have been wrongfully convicted.
However, as some victims have noted, collective acquittals run the risk of not catching one person who may be guilty.
Compensation for those innocently accused
Three separate compensation schemes have been established since the scandal broke, but very little has actually been paid out to victims.
Last November, ministers announced that the Government would pay £600,000 in compensation to everyone whose wrongful convictions were quashed.
However, fewer people than expected were successful in their appeals.
To date, a total of 86 of the 700 convictions have been overturned.
Could Fujitsu be affected?
The technology companies behind the Horizon system that led to these wrongful convictions at the Postal Service could also face backlash.
Ministers have suggested the company should pay at least some of the compensation awarded to these subpostmasters, while others have called for existing government contracts to be canceled or suspended.
Downing Street said on Tuesday morning that Fujitsu would be “held legally or financially responsible” if a public inquiry finds that the company mishandled the Horizon incident.
However, the spokesperson stopped short of saying that the government would suspend contracts with the company if it was found to be at fault.
In reality, it will be extremely difficult for the government to completely cut off its involvement with Fujitsu. This is primarily due to the legal risks of terminating contracts with major suppliers.
A Fujitsu spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to supporting the investigation to understand what happened and learn from it.”
