It’s not really ‘standard’ because instructing expert witnesses and going to trial is beyond the financial capacity of most criminal defendants, as well as the

It’s not really ‘standard’ because instructing expert witnesses and going to trial is beyond the financial capacity of most criminal defendants, as well as the legal aid system which needs to carefully ration funds that could be allocated to other cases. And even when the funds are available, it’s unlikely that a defence expert, in the time it would take them to bill an average person’s annual income, could understand much about a sprawling enterprise accounting system that cost millions of pounds and has thousands of daily users: > Defence accounting and IT experts were instructed. Detailed disclosure requests were made in respect of Horizon and its underlying data … On the other side of the scales, statements from Fujitsu employees attested to Horizon's reliability. Ultimately, the issue of Horizon's unreliability was not pursued at trial – possibly because the defence experts had struggled to understand the Horizon system. https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Hamilton-Others-v-Post-Office-judgment-230421.pdf https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Hamilton...