Post Office Horizon scandal: Rishi Sunak's law to strike down wrongful convictions may have serious unintended consequences – Scotsman comment

Politicians who think they can overturn judges’ decisions are effectively putting themselves above the law

As has been pointed out for years by, among others, The Scotsman, the wrongful conviction of hundreds of Post Office branch managers in the Horizon scandal is one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in history. People were sent to prison, lost homes, marriages and reputations, and endured the mental torment of an honest person treated as a criminal.

While the root cause of their problems was the flawed Horizon computer system, Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake told MPs yesterday that the evidence showed “not only incompetence but malevolence” by the Post Office. He lamented that just 95 out of more than 900 convictions had been overturned. Now, a new law is to be introduced in England and Wales to exonerate the scandal’s victims, with Downing Street saying it will work with the Scottish Government on similar steps.

It is extraordinary what can be achieved by a poignant television drama – ITV’s Mr Bates Vs The Post Office – in an election year. After years of inaction, politicians are suddenly falling over themselves to do something. However, there are problems with Rishi Sunak’s approach.

The first is that a blanket law clearing hundreds of people may inadvertently include some who were guilty but, given the pressing need to clear the innocent, this may be a price worth paying. The second is more serious. A law overturning court verdicts may set a dangerous precedent at a time when populists are testing the boundaries of political power.

In the US, Donald Trump is attempting to claim that, as president, he had immunity from prosecution. In the UK, Boris Johnson illegally suspended parliament to facilitate his Brexit plans, while Sunak wants to overturn a Supreme Court decision that Rwanda is not a safe country by passing a law to say that it is.

The concept of the separation of powers – the government, parliament and the judiciary – is a vital safeguard against tyranny. Politicians who think they can strike down judges’ decisions are effectively putting themselves above the law. Voters must make clear this is not a position they will tolerate in anything other than the most extreme circumstances.