Outline of the Act
Section 1 provides that convictions for "relevant offences" were quashed when the Act came into force, provided that the convictions:
were made in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland;
were prosecuted by the Post Office, CPS, Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland or the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland;
have not been considered by the Court of Appeal in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland; and
took place before the Act came into force.
	Section 2 defines what is meant by "relevant offence". It sets out five conditions that must be met for the conviction to be quashed by the Act:
Condition A - the offence must have been committed between 23 September 1996 and 31 December 2018, covering the period of the Horizon scandal, including the Horizon pilot.
Condition B – the offence was false accounting, fraud, handling stolen goods, money laundering, theft, or an ancillary offence.
Condition C - at the time the offence occurred, the convicted person was carrying on a post office business or working for the purposes of such a business.
Condition D – the person was alleged to have committed the offence in connection with carrying on or working for the purposes of that post office business.
Condition E – either the Horizon system was being used for the purposes of that post office business at the time of the alleged offence, or the offence was alleged to have been committed over a period of time and the Horizon system was being used for the purposes of the post office business for all or part of that period.
	Section 3 provides for how to determine when a conviction has been considered by the Court of Appeal. It specifies that where permission to appeal has been refused in respect of a conviction or where an appeal has been dismissed, it will not be quashed. Nothing in the Act prevents a further appeal against a conviction that has been considered by the Court of Appeal.
	Section 4 explains the process for identifying those convictions quashed by the Act, amending the records of those convictions and notifying relevant individuals. The convicting court must update records of a relevant conviction to record that the conviction was quashed by this Act.
	Section 5 sets out a process for deletion of cautions for relevant offences in England and Wales from the official record, where the Secretary of State becomes aware of them. It also provides for notification of affected individuals.
	Section 6 sets out a process for deletion of cautions for relevant offences in Northern Ireland from the official record, where the Department of Justice becomes aware of them. It also provides for notification of affected individuals.
	Section 7 makes consequential provision.
	Section 8 provides a power to the Secretary of State to make further consequential provision.
	Section 9 provides a power to the Department of Justice to make further consequential provision for transferred Northern Ireland provision.
	Section 10 includes definitions and clarifications to support interpretation of the Act.
	Section 11 provides that the Act came into force on Royal Assent. It also sets out the territorial extent of the Act. The Act extends to England Wales and Northern Ireland only.
	Section 12 establishes the Act’s short title.