Member

I understand that there is frustration about how long this issue has been under consideration, and the reason is this: the call for evidence which closed in April last year demonstrated a lack of consensus as to whether there is even a problem. Some argued that what happened in the Horizon cases had more to do with the prosecution improperly withholding evidence and important information from the defence than with the computers not working properly. Even experts who support reform cannot agree on how computer evidence ought to be defined, far less on what an effective solution might look like. There is also an overlap with the Government’s ongoing criminal justice system reform programme, so we are anxious to make sure that reform in this area does not interfere with, nor pre-empt, that piece of work.