PROF: TORIES WRONG NOT TO PARDON SCOTS
LEGAL EXPERT’S VIEW ON HORIZON MPs told Westminster COULD have included sub-postmasters here
A LEADING law professor has claimed the UK Government was wrong not to quash Post Office Horizon scandal convictions in Scotland.
Glasgow University’s James Chalmers insisted Tory ministers should have extended Westminster legislation issuing pardons to sub-postmasters in England to include Scotland.
Asked by Joanna Cherry MP at the House of Commons justice committee if the UK Government had taken the right approach, Chalmers said: “My view would be no, simply from a practical point of view.
“Given that the Scottish Government has indicated that it intends to mirror this legislation, it is very difficult to see how the Scottish Government could make different policy choices to any significant extent from those set down in the Bill.”
He said that since the idea was to quash convictions as quickly as possible, the idea of requiring Holyrood to wait until legislation passes through the UK Parliament and mirror it later “seems to help no one”.
While he agreed that the Scottish Parliament can pass legislation quickly, he added: “It would be better to ensure that there is proper scrutiny of the mechanism in the Bill for doing that, if it was not being forced into making the policy decisions in a single day.”
Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake announced in February that the UK Government would leave Holyrood to deal with wrongful convictions in Scotland because the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service carried out prosecutions north of the Border.
This is despite First Minister Humza Yousaf asking for the UK Government to include Scotland.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced blanket legislation this year to clear their names after an ITV drama sparked outrage.
More than 700 Post Office branch managers around the UK were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 after faulty Horizon accounting software made it look as if money was being stolen. More than 100 of these are thought to have been in Scotland.
Cherry said after the committee: “We often hear the UK Government lecturing the Scottish Government that ‘Scotland’s two governments should work together’.
“This situation is a perfect example of where that should happen, and it’s a shame that the UK Government is being so uncooperative.”
Yousaf told MSPs yesterday: “We continue to press the UK Government to extend their Bill to cover sub-postmasters and mistresses here in Scotland.
“The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has written to them today with suggested amendments to achieve this.”