Paul Marshall provides briefing to Darren Jones MP, Chair of the influential Business Enterprise Innovation and Strategy Select Committee
Paul Marshall provided a briefing to Darren Jones MP, chair of the influential Business Enterprise Innovation and Strategy select committee (that is conducting an inquiry into the Post Office scandal – suspended while the inquiry by Sir Wyn Williams is on foot) who moved a Parliamentary debate on 10 March 2021. The motion, that is of particular importance given recent disasters resulting from malfunctioning of computer systems, received a positive response from the government minister.
The Hansard transcript (that can be read here) was formally on the legal status of automatic computer-based decisions. The briefing by Paul followed his (invited) evidence given to the Justice Select Committee in July 2020 (that can be read here) and the expert working group paper submitted by Paul to the Ministry of Justice (at the invitation of the Minister, Alex Chalk MP) in November 2020.
The recommendations in that expert paper have now been referred by the Minister to the Attorney General and to the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee, chaired by the Lord Chief Justice, for further consideration. The recommendations (on the probity of computer evidence) can be read in an edited text published by the School of Advanced Study University of London in December 2020 here and a blogpost on the debate by Paul and Stephen Mason published by the School of Advanced Study University of London can be read here.
Paul has written extensively on the disastrous legal and other consequences of misunderstood computer evidence including recently in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law (August 2020 here) and in the Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review (June 2020 here – also available on BAILII).
