Working Paper 3: The Conduct of Horizon Prosecutions and Appeals
61 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2022
Date Written: October 7, 2021
Abstract
This report primarily considers the professional conduct issues arising from the prosecution of post office employees and sub-postmasters/ mistresses (SPMs) by Post Office Limited. Drawing primarily on the Court of Appeal’s decision and the hearings in Hamilton we explore, in particular:
• Interviews not being conducted fairly or properly
• Prosecutions in the absence of sufficient and sufficiently robust evidence
• Failures to investigate reasonable lines of enquiry
• Improper charging and pressure to plead guilty
• Failures to disclose
• The use of allegedly misleading evidence
• What is revealed by the Clarke advices?
• The adequacy of what happened after the Clarke advices
• Professional concerns relevant to the handling of appeals
• The handling of an independent investigation
We explain the professional conduct issues that may be raised by the events as revealed above to assist professional regulators, the Williams Inquiry, and professionals in the criminal justice system and beyond to reflect on current practices in legal work.
For good reasons, Criminal Court of Appeal processes are not vehicles for individual accountability; nor are academic working papers. We explore in what follows several concerning matters which may give rise to the need for such accountability. Our view is that the scale and impact of the wrongs, particularly the consequences visited upon SPMs, means these matters need urgent and rigorous investigation.
Keywords: Lawyers ethics, profeessional responsibility, lawyers, miscarriages of justice, appeals, corporate governance
JEL Classification: K20, K41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation