Scottish Labour has pledged to introduce legislation at Holyrood to pardon sub-postmasters wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal if the SNP government does not act. An estimated 100 Post Office workers in Scotland were prosecuted due to faults in the Horizon IT system.
The UK government has already introduced a Bill allowing wrongfully convicted sub-postmasters in England and Wales to settle for £600,000 without a formal claim. However, this does not apply to Scotland, where prosecutions were handled by the Crown Office.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance has unsuccessfully lobbied for the Westminster legislation to be extended to Scotland. UK Enterprise minister Kevin Hollinrake stated it is more appropriate for Holyrood to legislate given Scotland's separate legal system.
Labour MSP Michael Marra criticised the SNP for inaction, saying: 'The false conviction of hundreds of sub-postmasters is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in our country’s history... Scottish sub-postmasters must not be left behind as a result of SNP dawdling – if the government fails to act, Labour will.'
SNP MP Marion Fellows accused the UK government of 'cynically politicising' the issue, noting Northern Ireland was included in the Bill but Scotland was not. Constance reiterated that the best solution is extending the UK Bill, but if not, a Scottish Bill will be brought forward.
