Sub-postmasters in Scotland, wrongly convicted because of the Horizon IT scandal are “no clearer” on how they will receive justice, Labour has claimed.
The comment from the party’s shadow Scotland office minister, Michael Shanks, came after Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC seemingly undermined Humza Yousaf’s promise to exonerate all those affected by the scandal in Scotland.
Last week, the head of Scotland’s prosecution service said there would be no quick fix and that it was “imperative that due process is followed.”
She said the “right process” for people to clear their names was through the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) and the High Court of Appeal.
READ MORE: Horizon: Scottish narrative simply does not compute
That was in contrast to the First Minister who said the normal processes should be set aside.
Humza Yousaf said he believes the “easiest and quickest route” would be for the legislation being brought forward by the UK Government to clear the names of those who suffered a miscarriage of justice to apply in Scotland as well.
Responding to questions in the Commons, Scottish Office minister John Lamont told MPs that the Horizon scandal was “one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in this country's history with hundreds of people having their lives ruined and reputations dragged through the mud.”
He added: “The Prime Minister has announced new laws that will be brought forward to make sure that those wrongly convicted are exonerated and swiftly compensated here in England.
“The administration of justice is a devolved matter. The UK government is in contact with the Scottish Government to explore the most effective way to exonerate and compensate those innocent people.”
Mr Shanks asked for more details. He said: ”The scandal of the unjustified prosecution of subpostmasters the length and breadth of this country is almost beyond words. And although it shouldn't have taken a TV drama to get action it is good that those found guilty in England will now have their convictions quashed.
“But meanwhile, in Scotland, we're no clearer on how those wrongly convicted will get justice.
“The First Minister initially claimed he would be happy for this parliament to legislate for every victim across the UK. But his Lord Advocate has then said that she doesn't support blanket exonerations.
“So can I ask the Minister, what is he doing to ensure that those who were wrongly convicted in Scotland finally get the justice they deserve?”
READ MORE: SNP drawing up own laws to exonerate Horizon victims after UK warning
Mr Lamont told him that officials from the UK government were “working with their counterparts from the various devolved administrations including the Scottish Government to fully understand the legislative options that are available across the respective jurisdictions.”
He said it remained “a priority for all concerned to ensure that those sub postmasters receive justice and the compensation to which they are entitled as quickly as possible.”
Speaking at First Minister's Questions last week, Mr Yousaf said a legislative consent motion to allow Westminster to legislate in Scotland would be his “preference” but said the Scottish Government will bring forward its own legislation if that could not happen.
He told MSPs: “The UK Government last week announced they were looking to bring forward legislation in the UK Parliament in order for mass exonerations to take place when it comes to wrongful convictions.
“I have written to the Prime Minister to say we welcome that process and, not only that, as the First Minister we would be willing to work with the UK Government for that legislation to take place and have effect on a UK-wide basis.”
He added that if “for whatever reason” an LCM is not possible, “we are already working on contingencies around separate Scottish legislation if that is required”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here