Sir, – It is chilling to read in Charles Lysaght’s article on the UK Horizon post office scandal that, were similar miscarriages of justice to occur in Ireland, it would be far more difficult to reverse them (“British post office scandal shattered lives. We need safeguards to stop it happening here”, Opinion & Analysis, January 18th).
This is because our Criminal Justice Act 1992, which makes electronic records admissible in criminal cases, has no provision requiring proof of their reliability. This suits business interests, but it is disastrous for any ordinary citizen who is erroneously deemed to have transgressed the legislation.
Perhaps the Minister for Justice would tell us why this provision was excluded, and whether she will now amend the legislation to require proof of reliability. – Yours, etc,
BILL POWER,
Tramore,
Co Waterford.