Chalk to rethink private prosecution rules

THE Justice Secretary will examine changing the rules around private prosecutions by companies in the wake of the Post Office scandal, a Cabinet minister has said.

Alex Chalk is said to be looking at powers available to businesses amid growing anger over the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters because of the faulty Horizon accounting software.

More than 700 Post Office branch managers were convicted after the software, made by the Japanese technology firm Fujitsu, made it look as though money was missing from their shops.

Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, has previously called for the Post Office’s prosecuting powers to be given to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and said remaining convictions should be looked at “en masse”. Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, told Sky News Mr Chalk would be meeting senior judges yesterday to discuss how to expedite clearing those wrongfully convicted in the Horizon scandal.

He also told Times Radio Mr Chalk would look at the rules around private prosecutions after Kevin Hollinrake, the government minister who oversees the Post Office, said ministers would look at ways to avoid a repeat.

Mr Stride said: “My understanding – I’m no lawyer, actually – but my understanding is I think that companies generally have the ability to do this. It’s not as if the Post Office has had some special dispensation in that respect.

“But it is something that Kevin Hollinrake, in his statement to the Commons yesterday on this, touched on, and did suggest that it was something that Alex Chalk, who is the Justice Secretary, would be looking at and thinking about. But clearly we’ll have to wait to see what kind of conclusions he and others come to.”

On Monday, Mr Hollinrake vowed to quicken the pace at which subpostmasters can overturn convictions.

MPS have previously recommended that private prosecutions should be subject to more effective safeguards so that defendants receive a fair trial.

In 2020, the justice select committee called for a register of all private prosecutions, a code of standards for private prosecutors and investigators and for the CPS’S oversight role to be enhanced.

Private prosecutions can be brought by individuals or companies not acting on behalf of the police or another prosecuting authority. Post Office prosecutions can be traced back to 1683.