Legislation has been passed in the Scottish Parliament to automatically exonerate sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted as a result of the faulty Horizon IT system, the day after Royal Assent is granted.
Those wrongly convicted can then access the UK Government financial redress scheme.
The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill’s passage through Holyrood was speeded up using the Scottish Parliament’s emergency procedure to compensate victims as quickly as possible in line with the UK Bill, which didn’t cover sub-postmasters in Scotland. This saw the legislation introduced and passed in just over two weeks.
Sub-postmasters who previously sought to appeal their convictions will now also be exonerated, following a Scottish Government amendment to the Bill.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “As the UK Government’s legislation was not extended to cover Scotland, we have worked as quickly as possible to ensure parity for affected sub-postmasters here, who will also be able to access the UK Government’s compensation scheme.
“The unprecedented step of introducing legislation to right this terrible wrong was necessary to respond to the scale of the scandal and the length of time that victims have waited for justice.
“We will now be seeking Royal Assent for the Bill as quickly as possible so affected sub-postmasters can have their convictions quashed and then access the compensation they deserve.”
