Rahman Ravelli Assesses the Future of Private Prosecutions Following the Post Office Scandal

Law360 asked Rahman Ravelli for their thoughts on the Post Office scandal’s implications for private prosecutions.

The government has said it will examine the private prosecution rules after the Post Office wrongly prosecuted hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters for theft and false accounting as a result of faults with its own Horizon accounting software.

Rahman Ravelli have said that the Post Office scandal should not lead to a "knee-jerk political reaction." They did, however, emphasise that the failings in the case – which included those prosecuting using tainted evidence and failing to comply with disclosure rules – raise questions about whether organisations should be allowed to investigate and prosecute alleged offending.

They added:

"Despite the incredible failures of the Post Office case, there remains a need — and indeed, a market — to pursue private prosecutions in cases where public authorities like the CPS decline to intervene"

Rahman Ravelli also argued that lawyers who are involved in private prosecutions may have to accept additional regulation and accountability as a result of the scandal.

The full article can be read here.

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