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England’s most senior judge has defended the judiciary’s ability to handle Post Office cases as she personally presided over an appeal of a victim in the Horizon scandal for the first time.
Dame Sue Carr said at a Court of Appeal hearing on Tuesday that cases involving evidence from the Post Office’s Horizon accounting system were being dealt with through a “fast track approach”.
Her comments came after ministers rejected a proposal from the judiciary to speed up sub-postmasters appeals as an alternative to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s promise to exonerate victims en masse through unprecedented legislation.
“Today’s hearing itself has lasted some 30 minutes in total, including the delivery of our oral judgment,” Carr said as the court overturned the conviction of a former Post Office employee.
“The court has been and remains committed to the efficient and swift dispatch of Horizon appeals,” she said, adding the courts aimed to process Horizon appeals within 14 days of being lodged.
More than 900 sub-postmasters were convicted in cases involving data from the faulty Horizon IT system developed by Japanese software giant Fujitsu following its introduction in 1999.
More than 700 cases were brought by the Post Office itself. To date, 101 Horizon convictions have been overturned.
In January, Sunak promised to pass a law to overturn the convictions en-masse after a political storm caused by a TV drama about the scandal. The government said on Tuesday it would move forward with the legislation.
“The prime minister was clear — we will introduce primary legislation that will exonerate those impacted by the historic Horizon scandal,” Downing Street said.
Postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake and Alex Chalk, the justice secretary, met members of the judiciary last week to discuss an alternative plan pushed by judges.
The judicial proposal involved the attorney-general submitting cases in groups to be overturned in the Court of Appeal, according to three people briefed on proposals.
Government officials said the proposal would have caused delays to compensation for victims of the scandal as sub-postmasters would be exonerated more slowly than through the legislation.
“The senior judiciary appear to remain concerned that the government may be legislating on turf they consider their own,” said Mike Schwarz, a solicitor acting for some sub-postmasters.
Schwarz said he would continue to lodge appeals in “clear-cut Horizon cases” despite the pending legislation.
Other lawyers acting for sub-postmasters said they would reserve cases that were less straightforward, at least until the proposed legislation was published.
The Financial Times revealed last month that the Post Office warned ministers in January it would have opposed more than 300 appeals because of corroborating evidence.
The state-owned business’s lawyers are undertaking a review of cases and has written to individuals where it will not oppose an appeal.
