Update law on computer evidence to avoid Horizon repeat, ministers urged | Post Office Horizon scandal
Ministers need to “immediately” update the law to recognize that computers are fallible or risk a repeat of the Horizon scandal, legal experts say.In English and Welsh law, computers are assumed to be “reliable” unless proven otherwise. But critics of this approach say this reverses the burden of proof normally applied in criminal cases.Stephen Mason, a barrister and expert on electronic evidence, said: “It says, for the person who's saying 'there's something wrong with this computer', that they have to prove it. Even if it's the person accusing them who has the information.”Mason, along with eight other legal and computer…