Emergency law to automatically exonerate Scots Horizon victims

Figures from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service show that about 60 convictions in Scotland involved involved Horizon evidence.

The UK government has already introduced legislation that does not include Scotland.

The Scottish government said “relevant convictions” would be automatically quashed on the day the legislation comes into force and those affected would have access to access the UK government financial redress scheme.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, wrote to potential victims in 2020.

So far in Scotland, 19 people have come forward asking for their convictions to be quashed.

Six of those people have been cleared and two cases are currently going through the courts.

In January, the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, Scotland’s top law officer, told MSPs that not every case involving Horizon evidence would be a miscarriage of justice and each case must be considered carefully and with regard to the law.