A few years ago a friend of mine received a letter from an Irish government agency. Although he’s an Irish-Australian dual national, he couldn’t understand why he’d received the letter, as he’s never lived in Ireland. The letter was generic and vague. If he believed he’d experienced child abuse in an Irish institution, it said, he may be entitled to compensation. If he wanted to apply for compensation, he should fill out the enclosed form, return it to the agency, and his application would be considered. No context was provided. No statutory declaration was required. No judicial process was mentioned.…