Working Paper 3: The Conduct of Horizon Prosecutions and Appeals

61 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2022

See all articles by Richard Moorhead

Richard Moorhead

Exeter Law School, University of Exeter; Centre for Ethics and Law, Faculty of Laws, UCL London

Karen Nokes

University College London - Faculty of Laws

Rebecca Helm

University of Exeter - School of Law

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

Moorhead, Richard Lewis and Nokes, Karen and Helm, Rebecca, Working Paper 3: The Conduct of Horizon Prosecutions and Appeals (October 7, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4259004 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4259004

Richard Lewis Moorhead (Contact Author)

Exeter Law School, University of Exeter ( email )

University of Exeter
Exeter, Devon EX4 4RJ
United Kingdom

Centre for Ethics and Law, Faculty of Laws, UCL London ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Karen Nokes

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Rebecca Helm

University of Exeter - School of Law ( email )

Streatham Court
University of Exeter
Exeter, EX4 4QJ
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: https://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/law/staff/helm/

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