The judge of the Civil and Instruction Section of the Montoro Court of First Instance (Córdoba), seat number 2, who is investigating the case of the Adamuz train accident, has summoned technicians from Iryo and Renfe, as well as representatives from other companies and judicial experts, for November 12, to carry out the diligence of access, deciphering, and interpretation of the data contained in the legal recorders of both trains, known as black boxes.
According to the order, to which Europa Press has had access, the court has asked the IT department to provide the technicians with the necessary means requested by Hasler Rail, the equipment manufacturer, on the specified date to carry out the diligence.
Telematics oath of office for experts
Before that appearance, all the summoned participants, except for the judicial experts, must take the oath of office as experts on October 29, in a telematic appearance that will be carried out through an application. In the days prior, each one will receive a link in the provided email to connect to the event without the need to physically travel to the judicial headquarters.
The procedure is part of an investigation that has already included several previous actions on the extraction and analysis of the information stored in the legal recorders of the damaged trains, as well as on access to the security cameras installed inside the Iryo train.
The opening of the black boxes in Madrid
The premises of the then Railway Accident Investigation Commission (CIAF), in Madrid, hosted the opening of the black boxes of the two affected trains on March 5, after the Montoro Court of First Instance authorized on February 26 the access, extraction, and analysis of the content, as well as the access and extraction of data from the security cameras of the Iryo convoy.
The judge then authorized the use of any computer program that would allow verifying “the integrity of the files, their creation date, manipulation, or any other data of interest.” The dumping, extraction, and analysis were carried out in the presence of Judicial Police agents, who drew up a record of the procedure, obtained digital evidence of the content and/or certified copy of the data, kept a copy to continue with the investigation, and immediately delivered another to the judicial body.
Finally, it was ruled out to transfer the material to be analyzed to Montoro to avoid the risks that an eventual displacement of the recording equipment to the judicial premises of the Cordovan town would entail.
The Junta authorizes the expense for the expertise
In mid-May, the judge sent an official letter to the General Secretariat of Judicial Infrastructures and Digitalization of the Ministry of Justice of the Junta de Andalucía so that, “urgently,” the competent administrative body would adopt the necessary measures to allow this court to access the computer applications and have personnel from the manufacturing company to decipher the black boxes of the two trains.
In an order, the magistrate adopted this decision given “the state of the proceedings” and demanded access to the Multirec-SG and Husler-SG software, corresponding to the legal recorders of the Iryo train and the Alvia, whose installation and use licenses belong to Hasler Rail. The judge also requested personnel from the manufacturing company to allow effective access, deciphering, and interpretation of the data, considering it necessary for the clarification of the facts under investigation.
At the beginning of June, the Junta de Andalucía decided to approve an expense of 1,980 euros plus VAT to cover the cost of the expertise requested by judicial seat number 2 of the Montoro Court of First Instance, with the aim of having the necessary means for effective access, deciphering, and interpretation of the data contained in the legal recorders of the two trains.
According to the resolution of the Provincial General Secretariat of the Territorial Delegation of Justice, Local Administration and Public Function in Córdoba, the software used is owned by Hasler Rail and, therefore, the expertise “can only be carried out by them.”
The document adds that the expense “is not among those that can be carried out by the technical personnel assigned to the support services for the Administration of Justice or by the awarding entities of administrative contracts,” in accordance with the resolution of the Government Delegation in Córdoba of March 1, 2018, issued in application of article 5 of Decree 4/2018, of January 16, which regulates the provision of experts, translators, and interpreters to judicial bodies and the Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as the procedure for payment and reimbursement of corresponding expenses.
In this context, the Andalusian Government requested a budget from Hasler Rail, which submitted it in detail for an amount of 1,980 euros, not including VAT.
