The Pleasure Craft (Arrival and Report) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026
This Act quashes convictions for certain offences, such as theft, fraud, and false accounting, involving the Post Office's Horizon system in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
It requires the Secretary of State to identify and notify individuals whose convictions are vacated and directs relevant authorities to update records and delete fingerprints or DNA samples associated with those offences.
The legislation applies to the Secretary of State, the Post Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, and various police and judicial administration bodies.
Arguments For
The Act states that convictions were based on evidence from the Horizon system, which was found to be unreliable, leading to a miscarriage of justice.
Proponents argue that the unique scale and nature of the Horizon scandal require a legislative solution to provide mass exoneration where the standard appeal process is insufficient.
The legislation asserts that quashing these convictions is a necessary step to enable victims to access financial redress schemes.
The document specifies that the criteria for exoneration ensure that only cases related to Horizon-era failings at the Post Office and relevant prosecuting authorities are included.
Arguments Against
Legal scholars have raised concerns that the Act interferes with the constitutional principle of judicial independence by using secondary legislation to overturn court judgments.
Some critics argue the criteria may be too narrow, potentially excluding individuals who suffered similar harms but fall outside the specific date ranges or offence types listed.
Concerns have been raised regarding the potential for individuals who were actually guilty of wrongdoing to have their convictions quashed alongside those who were innocent.
Implementation difficulties may arise in identifying all eligible individuals and ensuring that diverse police and court records are updated accurately across different jurisdictions.
1 Quashing of convictions
(1) Every conviction for a relevant offence is quashed on the coming into force of this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act an offence is a “relevant offence” if— (a) the offence is a scheduled offence (see section 2), (b) the offence was committed— (i) in connection with Post Office business, or (ii) in connection with the provision of services for the purposes of Post Office business, (c) at the time of the alleged offence, the person (“P”) who committed it— (i) was carrying on a Post Office business under a contract with the Post Office, (ii) was employed by or otherwise working for a person who was carrying on a Post Office business under a contract with the Post Office, or (iii) was otherwise working for the Post Office (including as an employee), (d) the conviction was for an offence committed during the relevant period (see section 3), (e) the conviction was an England and Wales conviction or a Northern Ireland conviction (see section 4), and (f) the conviction has not been quashed before the coming into force of this Act.
(3) P is to be treated as having been acquitted of the offence.
(4) A conviction which is quashed by subsection (1) is not to be treated as having been quashed by the Court of Appeal for the purposes of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (compensation for miscarriages of justice).
(5) For the purposes of this Act— (a) “conviction” includes— (i) a conviction by a court-martial, and (ii) a finding of a court in criminal proceedings that a person has committed an offence or done the act or made the omission charged; (b) a person is “convicted” of an offence if the person is the subject of a conviction for that offence; (c) a reference to a conviction for an offence includes a reference to a conviction for the offence in any form, including— (i) a conviction for an attempt to commit the offence, (ii) a conviction for a conspiracy to commit the offence, and (iii) a conviction for an offence of inciting, or aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, the commission of the offence.
This section automatically voids every conviction that meets the definition of a "relevant offence" upon the Act's commencement.
It treats the affected individuals as if they were acquitted of the charges.
To qualify as a relevant offence, the crime must be listed in the Act, committed in connection with Post Office business, and occurred during a specific time period.
The section also clarifies that being treated as acquitted under this Act does not automatically trigger compensation under the standard Criminal Justice Act 1988 framework.
4 Meaning of “England and Wales conviction” and “Northern Ireland conviction”
(1) In this Act “England and Wales conviction” means a conviction for an offence in proceedings in England and Wales— (a) instituted by the Post Office or the Crown Prosecution Service, or (b) in which the Post Office or the Crown Prosecution Service had conduct of the prosecution.
(2) In this Act “Northern Ireland conviction” means a conviction for an offence in proceedings in Northern Ireland— (a) instituted by the Post Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland or the Police Service of Northern Ireland, or (b) in which the Post Office, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland or the Police Service of Northern Ireland had conduct of the prosecution.
(3) An “England and Wales conviction” does not include a conviction which was the subject of an appeal to the Court of Appeal that was dismissed or abandoned before the coming into force of this Act, if the ground of appeal was that the conviction was unsafe because of the reliability of the Horizon system.
(4) A “Northern Ireland conviction” does not include a conviction which was the subject of an appeal to the County Court or the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland that was dismissed or abandoned before the coming into force of this Act, if the ground of appeal was that the conviction was unsafe because of the reliability of the Horizon system.
This section defines which specific convictions fall under the Act based on where they were prosecuted and by which agency.
It covers cases brought by the Post Office, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, or the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Crucially, it excludes cases where the individual has already appealed based on the unreliability of the Horizon system and had that appeal dismissed or abandoned.
If the court has already ruled on the Horizon issue for a specific case, this legislation does not override that specific judicial decision.
5 Identification and notification
(1) The Secretary of State must take all reasonable steps to identify every person who has been convicted of a relevant offence.
(2) As soon as reasonably practicable after a person has been identified as such, the Secretary of State must— (a) give the person a notice in writing— (i) stating that the person’s conviction is quashed by this Act, and (ii) requesting the person to provide any information that may be required for the purposes of the administration of a relevant financial redress scheme, and (b) notify the relevant court of the quashing of the conviction.
(3) In subsection (2)(b) “the relevant court” means— (a) in the case of an England and Wales conviction, the Crown Court; (b) in the case of a Northern Ireland conviction, the county court in Northern Ireland.
The Secretary of State is required to make a concerted effort to find every person eligible under the Act.
Once identified, the government must formally notify the individual that their conviction has been quashed.
This notice must also ask for the information needed to process financial compensation.
Additionally, the government must inform the relevant courts in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland so that judicial records can be formally updated.
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