Private prosecution rules may be changed after postal scandal

Alex Chalk will review the rules for private prosecution by companies. Photo: James Manning/PA

The Justice Secretary will consider changing the rules around private prosecutions of companies in the wake of the Post Office scandal, the Cabinet Office minister has said.

Alex Chalk is reportedly looking into the powers available to businesses. amid growing anger over the wrongful convictions of deputy postmasters. due to faulty Horizon accounting software.

More than 700 post office managers have been convicted after software created by Japanese technology firm Fujitsu made it appear as if money had gone missing from their stores.

Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party, has previously called for the powers of the post office to be devolved. prosecution agency to the Crown Prosecution Service and said the remaining convictions should be dealt with «en masse».

In an interview with Sky News, Mel Stride, the work and pensions secretary, said Mr Chalk would meet senior judges on Tuesday to discuss how to speed up the release of those wrongfully convicted in the Horizon scandal.

During Tuesday's morning broadcast, he also told Times Radio that Mr Chalk would review the rules on private prosecution after Kevin Hollinrake, the government minister overseeing the Post Office, said ministers would look at ways to avoid a repeat.

“But this is something that Kevin Hollinrake, in his statement to the House of Commons yesterday on this subject, touched on and suggested that this is what what Alex Chalk, who is the Minister of Justice, will look and think. But obviously we will have to wait to see what conclusions he and others come to.”

Mr Hollinrake pledged on Monday to speed up the pace at which deputy postmasters can overturn convictions and receive compensation.

MPs had previously recommended that private prosecutions be subject to more effective safeguards to ensure that defendants receive a fair trial and are not incur excessive costs.

In 2020, the Justice Select Committee called for the creation of a register of all private prosecutions, a code of standards for private prosecutors and investigators, and a strengthened oversight role for the Crown Prosecution Service. .

Private prosecutions can be brought by individuals or companies not acting on behalf of the police or other prosecuting authority. Prosecutions of post offices date back to 1683.

The RSPCA and the Environment Agency are other examples of organizations that bring their own charges to court.