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NLJ this week: Private prosecutions are not to blame for the Post Office scandal

01 March 2024
Issue: 8061 / Categories: Legal News , Procedure & practice , Criminal , Fraud
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The Post Office Horizon scandal has led to calls for reform of the private prosecution system, but this would be a ‘tragic irony’, Kate McMahon, partner at Edmonds Marshall McMahon, writes in this week’s NLJ

The right of an individual to bring a private prosecution is a historical right. Any curtailment of, or restrictions placed upon, this right would be a ‘pitchfork’ response, with detrimental effects for justice.

‘Indeed, such an act would require lawyers and the public to put unrestrained faith in the exact same government that has failed to adequately supervise its own Post Office,’ McMahon writes. She mounts a robust case for keeping private prosecutions, which provide a safeguard when the state gets it wrong.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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