Justice is delayed, Sunak’s new law has no clear timetable

　　Justice has been delayed, Sunak’s new law has no clear timetable, more than 900 people have been wrongly convicted in postal injustice cases

　　□ Reporter Han Bo

　　At the beginning of this year, the popularity of the British drama Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office aroused the British people’s attention and anger over a long-standing postal injustice case.

Over the past two decades, due to flaws in the "Horizon" accounting software developed by Japan's Fujitsu for the British Post Office, many postal branch accounts have incorrectly shown deficits. More than 900 British postal branch managers have been accused of theft, accounting fraud and fraud. Fraud and conviction.

For this reason, the heads of the branch offices involved have jointly filed complaints for more than ten years, and some even committed suicide to prove their innocence.

The turbulent public opinion prompted British Prime Minister Sunak to announce the introduction of a new law to clear the grievances of the victims and promise to get them compensation as soon as possible.

However, some analysts pointed out that Sunak's statement was due to the pressure of public opinion and that he would compensate the victims in the form of legislation. Judging from the current situation, there is no clear timetable.

The postal injustice case is protracted

　　This series of cases dates back to 25 years ago. In 1999, the British Post Office introduced the "Horizon" accounting software system developed by Japan's Fujitsu Company to replace the traditional accounting system.

After the end of each trading day, the postmaster needs to reconcile the day's settlement amount displayed in the "Horizon" system. If the cash stock is lower than the record in the system, he must pay the difference out of his own pocket, or apply for deduction from future income. account.

　　Shortly after the new system was installed, a branch director realized something was wrong. The Horizon system often experienced inexplicable funding gaps of thousands of pounds, but this situation was not taken seriously and dealt with by superiors.

　　Joe Hamilton, the former director of a branch post office in the United Kingdom, recently said in an interview with a Sky News reporter: "I didn't understand these new technologies at all at the time. After problems occurred, they convinced me and made me mistakenly believe that it was all my fault. In addition, There was no social media at the time and I thought I was the only one like this." Afterwards, Hamilton was forced to mortgage the property twice, pay out of his own pocket to fill the so-called "account gap", and ended up deeply in debt.

And Hamilton's experience is just the tip of the iceberg.

　　Between 1999 and 2015, approximately 3,500 branch postmasters across the UK were accused of theft, fraud or false accounting, with more than 900 convicted and 230 jailed.

　　There is evidence that the Post Office chose to conceal the truth after learning about the loopholes in the Horizon system and still prosecuted those involved.

Due to the long time span of the case appeal process, more than a dozen people have passed away so far.

Many victims confessed because they were threatened and pressured.

　　Worsfold, the former director of a certain post office, said in an interview: "They told me that if I signed a statement admitting that I had falsified the accounts and made up the accounts, they would drop other charges against me. They threatened me with other charges. It could land me in jail.”

　　This series of cases plunged the British postal system into a whirlpool of public opinion. It was called "the largest injustice case in British judicial history" by the BBC and "one of the largest judicial injustices in the history of the country" by Sunak.

The introduction of new laws is controversial

　　The postal injustice case has lasted for more than 20 years. With the popularity of "Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office", it has triggered a strong response from society.

Sunak promised to pass a new law to quash convictions and provide compensation to all victims of postal injustice.

　　"This is one of the worst miscarriages of justice in the nation's history, and the lives and reputations of people who have worked so hard to serve their communities have been ruined through absolutely no fault of their own," Sunak said in a speech in the House of Commons.

　　Sunak said the new legislation would ensure victims are "quickly redressed and compensated".

Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer also backed the legislation, calling the scandal a huge injustice.

　　However, some legal experts worry that large-scale pardons may interfere with judges handling cases.

　　Conservative Sir David Davis worries that some victims may want an outcome of individual acquittal rather than amnesty because they fear being lumped into "a tiny minority of people who are not actually innocent".

Some congressmen also believed: "It cannot be directly said that all those charged are indeed innocent. If each case is not retried, we cannot be sure."

　　The Prime Minister's spokesman said legislation would be introduced in the coming weeks and compensation would be paid before the end of the year.

As of now, the UK government has not announced a specific timetable for the new legislation.

The case sparked a war of words in the political arena

　　The British "Financial Times" recently commented that this was originally a judicial incident, but many political forces were involved, which is somewhat unusual.

Analysts pointed out that British politicians from all parties have been indifferent to the scandal for many years, and then showed great concern after the TV series aroused public opinion. The huge contrast between before and after may be related to the upcoming parliamentary elections in the second half of this year.

　　Former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton claimed on February 18 that when he was sacked last month, Business Secretary Kemi Badenock told him that "someone had to be held accountable" for the Post Office scandal.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Staunton also claimed that due to cost issues, a senior figure in Whitehall (referred to as the British executive branch) told him to postpone compensation payments to relevant personnel until the next election.

　　Badenock responded on social media, calling Staunton's comments a "shameful misrepresentation" of the conversations they had when he was fired.

The British "Guardian" stated that Badnock is often considered the frontrunner to succeed Sunak, and this debate is both about the past and her future.

　　Postmaster General Kevin Hollinlake told Sky News he did not accept Staunton's suggestion of a delay in compensation.

"We have been very focused on distributing compensation as quickly as possible," he said.

　　Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that in order to establish the veracity of Staunton's allegations, Badenock should release all correspondence and minutes of meetings between the business department and the Post Office since the High Court's 2019 ruling.

At the same time, he also asked Badnock to clearly answer whether any public officials asked Staunton to delay the payment of compensation so that the government can "hardly fight the election" with the lowest possible financial burden.

　　Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said: "Ministers have delayed too long in providing victims with prompt and fair compensation. We need to get victims treated fairly and give them the justice and compensation they deserve. "

　　"The Guardian" commented that although victims who have been wronged for many years have the opportunity to regain their innocence and receive compensation, many people's lives have been irreparably damaged. This can hardly be said to be a happy ending.