Government to review Post Office-style investigations

The government will review future oversight of private prosecutions in light of the Post Office Horizon scandal and wider debates that there are currently insufficient safeguards to prevent abuse.

Private prosecutions are cases brought before the criminal courts without the involvement of the police or the Crown Prosecution Service.

The consultation, which will begin in the new year, will follow talks between the government and organizations that have the power to take certain actions, such as the BBC, over non-payment of the TV License fee.

It will also consider the single justice procedure, which means minor prosecutions are expedited by letter rather than a court hearing.

In 2020, MPs called on the then government to strengthen measures on private prosecutions.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Heidi Alexander told BBC News the new government would now pursue these concerns.

The Horizon scandal revealed that the Post Office had failed to ensure the appropriateness of its private investigations into deputy postmasters, and a public inquiry was investigating what went wrong.

And on Thursday Alexander told BBC News: “In cases such as the Horizon scandal with the Post Office, we have seen private prosecutions resulting in wrongful convictions.

“What happens to some vulnerable people using the single justice procedure is not that extreme.

“Sometimes agencies prosecute individuals for whom the public interest is perhaps not proven in that investigation.

“We want to talk to these organizations to improve measures to ensure the fair administration of justice and justice administration.”

There is no public record of private prosecutions, but it is widely thought that there may be around 300,000 such cases a year.

Meanwhile, judges deal with around 770,000 cases a year behind closed doors under the single speedy justice procedure (SJP).

These are entirely paper-based prosecutions in which a person is accused of a minor crime, such as a car insurance violation, through the mail and is forced to defend himself by letter.

But Alexander said 550,000 of the defendants did not even respond, raising questions about how many people understood the results.

“They’re not defending one way or the other,” he said.

“It goes directly to the criminal court of peace.

“And I think we need to improve the way the single justice procedure works this round.”

Questions about SJP’s assurances have increased this year A groundbreaking court decision It was found that up to 74,000 fines should be canceled; because railroad companies were incorrectly using this procedure to prosecute people accused of fare evasion.

Alexander said the government would not revoke SJP, but stronger safeguards were needed, including ensuring all cases were justified.