Scandal at the Post Office

The Intersection of law, ethics and politics

Abstract

The Post Office Horizon scandal in the United Kingdom, possibly the most extensive miscarriage of justice in English legal history, was caused by a number of interrelated factors. These include: the legal presumption that computers are reliable; the unwillingness and failure of judges to order appropriate and necessary disclosure of documents by the Post Office, where required to ensure fairness at trial; the unethical conduct by the board and management of the Post Office; failure by government – the Post Office’s owner, and questionable litigation strategies adopted by the Post Office’s lawyers.

Index words: Post Office; Horizon IT system; disclosure; discovery; electronic evidence; ethics; politics