Major Victory in Group Litigation vs Post Office Limited
The first in a series of trials that have been brought against Post Office Limited, finished in December 2018. The 5 week trial addressed a number of Common Issues and was held in the High Court’s Technology and Construction Court at the Rolls Building in London. The Judgement for this trial, which is major victory for the group, was handed down on March 15th 2019.
The second, the Horizon Issues trial, began on 11 March 2019, and will address the issues relevant to the operation of the Horizon system itself, including expert evidence from IT experts.
On 21st March 2019 Post Office Limited lodged an application for the Managing Judge, HH Justice Frasier to recuse (sack) himself, alleging that he was 'biased' in the Judgement he had handed down on 15th March. The Horizon Issues trial is now on hold until the recusal application has been decided.
The Common Issues trial heard from six Lead Claimant ex-Subpostmasters and 14 witnesses giving evidence for the defendant (Post Office Limited). The evidence was used to demonstrate some of the key issues, in particular, regarding the nature of the contract between the Claimants and Post Office that affects the entire Group. The outcome of the common issues hearing will help influence how the case proceeds thenceforth.
This legal action is now closed to new applicants, however the JFSA has updated its advice to any serving Subpostmaster who finds they have run into problems with Post Office whilst using its Horizon system, and details can be found here. For any ex-Subpostmaster who has only just discovered the legal action and would have wanted to register to join if they had been aware of it early, our advice is still to contact Freeths LLP, the legal firm representing the Claimants in this action.
If you want to keep up with the latest progress of the trials, Nick Wallis, the reporter who has been following this issue for a number of years, attended each day of the Common Issues trial and has been keeping his http://www.postofficetrial.com/ website updated.
The second, the Horizon Issues trial, began on 11 March 2019, and will address the issues relevant to the operation of the Horizon system itself, including expert evidence from IT experts.
On 21st March 2019 Post Office Limited lodged an application for the Managing Judge, HH Justice Frasier to recuse (sack) himself, alleging that he was 'biased' in the Judgement he had handed down on 15th March. The Horizon Issues trial is now on hold until the recusal application has been decided.
The Common Issues trial heard from six Lead Claimant ex-Subpostmasters and 14 witnesses giving evidence for the defendant (Post Office Limited). The evidence was used to demonstrate some of the key issues, in particular, regarding the nature of the contract between the Claimants and Post Office that affects the entire Group. The outcome of the common issues hearing will help influence how the case proceeds thenceforth.
This legal action is now closed to new applicants, however the JFSA has updated its advice to any serving Subpostmaster who finds they have run into problems with Post Office whilst using its Horizon system, and details can be found here. For any ex-Subpostmaster who has only just discovered the legal action and would have wanted to register to join if they had been aware of it early, our advice is still to contact Freeths LLP, the legal firm representing the Claimants in this action.
If you want to keep up with the latest progress of the trials, Nick Wallis, the reporter who has been following this issue for a number of years, attended each day of the Common Issues trial and has been keeping his http://www.postofficetrial.com/ website updated.