3 ms·

In principle there was already some separation of duty as solictors in England owe a duty to the Court regardless of who pays them. However it seems not to have

• etothepii 3y ago
  I think you mean barristers. The problem here was that as many sub-postmasters were co owned by a husband and wife with children. There was an enormous incentive for one of the sub post masters to plead guilty and say, "my wife had nothing to do with it." Doubly so as the sentences would often be on the cusp of the "suspendible range", a guilty plea combined with contrition is much more likely to get a judge to suspend your sentence if he can. Of course, this "plea-bargaining" is standard practice in the states but we aren't used to it in the UK. The issue is that no barrister would allow their client to plead guilty without giving them a little canned speech about not pleading guilty if they didn't do it and having them, "sign their brief".
  • zzbn00 3y ago
    I meant the solictor of the Post Office -- solicitors in England are both classified as officers of the court and owe duties to the Court. So amongst other things Post Office's own solicitors should have declined to act in any way that could mislead the court.