Can the UK exonerate all sub-postmasters with a single law?

UK ministers are examining plans for a blanket exoneration of hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted in what has been described as the biggest miscarriage of justice in modern British history.

Justice secretary Alex Chalk will this week discuss with senior members of the judiciary swifter redress for those prosecuted by the Post Office for theft and false accounting on the basis of a faulty IT system.

Postal affairs minister, Kevin Hollinrake, told MPs on Monday that criminal convictions were being overturned at a “slow pace” and pledged the government would take action to speed up appeals.

“We are looking at a collective exoneration to see what is legally possible,” Hollinrake said.

Campaigners are pushing for such a move, arguing that the existing process to overturn convictions and therefore allow those wrongly convicted to secure compensation is deeply flawed.

But some top lawyers questioned how such a measure would be implemented and warned that legislation to overturn criminal convictions risked undermining the independence of the judiciary.

What is the Horizon IT scandal?

Between 2000 and 2014 the state-owned Post Office prosecuted hundreds of sub-postmasters after financial shortfalls were identified at their branches as a result of faulty evidence from the Horizon IT system.

Those affected were forced to make repayments. A large number of people were pursued through civil litigation, while the most serious cases resulted in criminal prosecutions. More than 700 sub-postmasters were ultimately convicted over a 14-year period, despite many pleading their innocence.

How many cases have been overturned so far?

Thirty-nine criminal convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting were overturned in a landmark Court of Appeal ruling in 2021 that also paved the way for more appeals.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission, the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice, has referred 70 Post Office cases to the Court of Appeal….