SRA gears up for Post Office prosecutions

Regulator ‘hopeful’ actions can begin over the summer

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is “hopeful” that it can begin Post Office prosecutions later this summer.

A notice from the regulator’s January Board meeting states that “while we can’t confirm the exact timeline, we are hopeful that we can launch prosecution action in some cases in the summer of this year”.

“With more than 20 firms and solicitors being investigated, there is no larger or more significant case than the Post Office Horizon Scandal,” SRA chair Anna Bradley commented, describing it as “one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history”.

The scale of the issues and documentation are said to be “unprecedented”, with the SRA liaising closely with the Post Office Inquiry and the police to understand “what, if any action they may take. We will, of course, take action as soon as we can”.

The involvement of lawyers in the scandal has also raised “serious questions” about the behaviour and culture of the profession, Bradley said. The regulator is said to have reflected on its approach to ethics and is looking at whether there is more that it can do to ensure solicitors are “working to the standards the public expect”.

This comes after the SRA said in January last year that it would wait for “the full facts and all the relevant issues have been aired through the inquiry” before taking any action. “We do not have evidence to show that any solicitor presents an ongoing risk to the public that needs to be addressed through urgent action,” it said.

The inquiry heard closing arguments in December last year, although is yet to publish its findings. Up until March 2024 it accumulated costs of nearly £50 million, the vast majority of which has been spent on legal fees.