Government assessing 141 cases after passing Horizon scandal exoneration law
The Scottish Government is assessing 141 cases after passing a law exonerating Scots who were wrongly convicted as part of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said work is going ahead “with pace and precision” to identify those who need to be notified that their convictions have been quashed.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act sets out that police and court records must be amended for those who suffered miscarriages of justice.
Passed as emergency legislation ahead of the summer recess, it is also intended to allow individuals to access the UK redress scheme.
Ms Constance wrote to Holyrood’s Justice Committee to provide an early update on identifying the relevant cases.
She said three sources of information are being used: a Crown Office list; a list of those contacted by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission; and those who have self-referred directly to the Scottish Government.
Ms Constance said: “As a result of this information gathering, the Scottish Government is assessing 141 cases.
“This information is correct as of the date of the letter, as further self-referral could emerge.
“A case management system is in place to work through each case with pace and precision.”
She continued: “Once the cases have been considered and an assessment made that the case contains a relevant offence, I will send a notification letter to let the individual or their personal representatives know that the conviction has been quashed.
“A trauma-informed approach is being adopted and, in some cases, other persons, such as a family member, may be nominated to be the point of contact.”
She said that, so far, two notification letters have been sent and the pace is expected to pick up in the coming months.
The legislation was passed to right the “terrible wrong” of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
Westminster passed its own legislation on the issue but the UK Government declined to apply it to Scotland, citing the separate legal system north of the border.