The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) may take enforcement action against some solicitors connected to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal before the statutory public inquiry publishes its final report (a date for which is still to be confirmed). This was reported by the Law Society Gazette, which reviewed SRA board papers on the matter and was reiterated in an ‘SRA Update on the SRA investigation on the Post Office Horizon IT scandal’ dated 12 March 2026.
What Do The SRA’s Board Papers Tell Us?
According to the Law Gazette, the SRA’s January board papers reveal a shift in the regulator’s enforcement approach. While the SRA has long maintained that disciplinary proceedings directly linked to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal would wait until Sir Wyn Williams publishes his final inquiry report, it has now confirmed that this does not apply across the board.
Ongoing investigations have continued throughout the inquiry period, with the SRA previously reluctant to bring formal action for fear of compromising the inquiry’s conclusions or any resulting criminal prosecutions. That caution remains in place for conduct at the heart of the scandal itself.
The board papers draw a distinction between two categories of cases in relation to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal. The first concerns conduct by solicitors directly connected to the original prosecutions of sub-postmasters, which the SRA has said it will not progress until after the inquiry concludes. The second concerns what the SRA describes as ‘post-scandal’ cases: conduct that post-dates the prosecutions themselves, the emergence of the scandal, and the announcement of the inquiry.
Of The Second Category, The SRA Board Papers State:
“Post-scandal cases relate to conduct post-dating prosecutions of sub postmasters, the emergence of the scandal and the announcement of the Inquiry. These do not touch on the issues the Post Office Inquiry is addressing, and our assessment is that these cases are also not likely to be affected by criminal investigation. Our investigations in this area are progressing, and we anticipate being able to take enforcement action more swiftly in these cases”.
The papers also state:
“Horizon scandal cases are under investigation, and we await the Inquiry’s publication of its findings in the second report. The Inquiry report will make evidence available, which will inform our treatment of evidence relied on by the Inquiry and avoid our risking prejudicing the Inquiry’s findings or any criminal prosecutions triggered by its findings”.
What Post-Scandal Conduct Is Under Scrutiny?
The Law Society Gazette reports that the SRA has not specified the types of post-scandal conduct under investigation. The publication believes that it may involve solicitors who did not engage and co-operate fully with the public inquiry when called upon to do so. Another area of focus may be solicitors representing subpostmaster victims in the compensation process, where the SRA was alerted by the Horizon Compensation Advisory Board to potential concerns about the fees being charged.
In a statement issued in 2025, the SRA said:
“We have asked any sub postmasters concerned about fees charged for legal services, including in relation to the compensation scheme or other representation relating to the Horizon Post Office scandal, to let us know. Any concerns will be investigated, and if we believe solicitors have fallen below the standards expected of them, we will take action”.
The Broader Investigation
The SRA has previously confirmed it has more than 20 live investigations into solicitors and law firms linked to the scandal, including those who acted on behalf of the Post Office or Royal Mail Group. In its February 2025 statement and 12 March 2026 statement, the SRA set out areas of conduct under examination. These are, amongst others:
- Solicitors’ management and supervision of cases; and the strategy and conduct of prosecutions and of litigation (including group litigation – Mr Bates Vs The Post Office)
- Duties relating to expert witnesses
- Disclosure obligations and improper application of privilege to protect communications from disclosure
- Issues relating to the operation of the Post Office Complaint Review and Mediation Scheme, including overcharging of claimants, use of non-disclosure agreements, and labelling of correspondence.
Final Words
The comments in the SRA’s board minutes and the SRA update on the SRA investigation into the Post Office Horizon IT scandal dated 12 March 2026, suggest that solicitors whose conduct relates to the period after the scandal became public, rather than to the original prosecutions, may face regulatory proceedings sooner than those in the first category of cases. The SRA has not confirmed a specific timeline for when formal action will be taken in post-scandal cases.
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