Scottish sub-postmasters who were wrongly convicted as a result of the Post Office Horizon scandal will be automatically exonerated today.

The Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Act which received Royal Assent yesterday, 13 June, has now come into force.

The legislation was passed in the Scottish parliament on 30 May, as part of an expedited process, to deliver justice to victims as swiftly as possible and enable them to access the UK government’s financial redress scheme.

Working with the Crowd Office, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, and the Post Office, the Scottish government will notify those affected and ensure police and court records are amended. There is also a route for victims to bring their cases to the attention of ministers.

Justice secretary Angela Constance has written an open letter to sub-postmasters setting out next steps. The justice secretary said:

“This legislation automatically exonerates sub-postmasters who were convicted of crimes of dishonesty that they did not commit due to the Post Office’s faulty Horizon IT system, meaning they are eligible to access the redress scheme.

“Of course, no amount of compensation can fully mend the lives that were torn apart by this miscarriage of justice. I do hope, however, that this legislation goes some way to righting the terrible wrongs of the past.

“I will be writing to those affected to tell them their convictions have been quashed and ensuring court records are changed, so the victims of this scandal can have their good names restored as quickly as possible. They have already waited too long for justice.”

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The Horizon IT scandal has been called one of miscarriages of justice in the UK—if not the largest.

Dating back three decades, it resulted in hundreds of Post Office operators being wrongfully prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting due to faulty software. Around 900 people have been prosecuted in total.

When the UK government outlined its exonerative legislation back in March this year, it said that the financial redress scheme would involve an interim compensation payment, with the option of taking a fixed and final offer of £600,000.

Additionally, those who were not convicted or part of legal action against the Post Office but still suffered due to Horizon failures would have the option to receive a fixed payment of £75,000.

The UK government also assured that “Regardless of where or how convictions are quashed, redress will be paid to victims across the whole of the UK on the same basis.”