POL00006484
POL00006484
PRIVATE & LEGALLY PRIVILEGED
Summary of Conference at Maitland Chambers
Tuesday 12 June 2012
In attendance: Richard Morgan QC (Counsel)
Daniel Margolin (Counsel)
Gavin Matthews (Bond Pearce)
Susan Crichton (POL)
Hugh Flemington (POL)
It was recognised that an impasse has been reached in relation to the Horizon litigation
which POL is seeking to address. The question is what is the best way of breaking that
impasse.
The proposal to instruct an Independent expert to prepare a report on the Horizon
system is the highest risk response to the issue. What will it achieve? It will not be
able to address any of the civil/criminal cases dealt with under "Old Horizon". Will it
seek to review particular cases? If so, which ones?
Whatever the findings of the expert report it will not resolve the problem. POL will be
"damned if they do and damned if they don’ If the findings are that there are no
issues with Horizon people will see that as a "whitewash" whereas if the findings are
negative that will open the floodgates to damages claims by SPM's who were imprisoned
for false accounting and Access Legal will start to pursue all the civil cases they are
currently sitting on.
POL will always have this problem - some people will never trust computers and will
always believe they have an inherent problem.
A less risky approach is to agree to take the relevant MP's privately through particular
cases in which they are interested.
POL needs to engage with its stakeholders by perhaps sending out a questionnaire
about Horizon to SPM's getting their views and seeking to address the more sensible
ones. This is more a PR exercise.
Richard Morgan QC is happy to discuss the possible approaches and merits of each with
the Board of POL at any time.
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