Post Office disclosure could be used against lawyers before SDT

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/post- ... 00.article

The Post Office will give the Solicitors Regulation Authority copies of documents disclosed to dozens of former subpostmasters whose convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal last year – which could be used against individual lawyers in future disciplinary proceedings.

The regulator is currently investigating the role of lawyers in the prosecution of Post Office staff as a result of the Horizon IT scandal, which saw hundreds of people convicted between 2000 and 2014.

A copy of a High Court order approved last week by Deputy Master Linwood, which has been seen by the Gazette, reveals that the Post Office has agreed to hand over unredacted electronic copies of ‘the case-specific disclosure’ which was provided to 39 appellants whose convictions were quashed last April.

The Post Office has also agreed to provide ‘the generic disclosure review material disclosed to all appellants and potential future appellants’ as at the date of the order, including documents which ‘might case doubt on the safety of any historical convictions’.

The documents will be provided without any redactions being made on the basis of legal professional privilege or data protection law, the order states.

‘Any documents which are subject to legal professional privilege are provided solely to enable the [SRA] to undertake its regulatory duty (which for the avoidance of any doubt may include using such documents in any disciplinary proceedings issued in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal) and does not amount to a waiver by the defendant of legal professional privilege,’ it adds.

Earlier this month, the SRA and the Post Office agreed the terms of the order, with a spokesperson for the Post Office saying it is ‘fully complying with the notice and will be providing relevant documents within the timeframe requested’.

‘The disclosure notice does not relate to individuals that are involved with the Post Office today,’ the spokesperson added.

An SRA spokesperson previously said its investigation continues and that it has no timeframe for when it will be completed. The regulator confirmed it was investigating the role of lawyers in the Post Office scandal, shortly after the 39 former subpostmasters’ convictions were overturned last year.

In total, 72 former Post Office employees have had their convictions overturned since the settlement of civil action brought by 555 former subpostmasters in 2019. A statutory inquiry, chaired by retired High Court judge Sir Wyn Williams, is ongoing.