Soon after, Odo discovered that all three men were innocent, and that his lax investigative procedures caused a serious miscarriage of justice.

He added that "lax and seriously inadequate" vetting procedures for guests were overhauled earlier this year by the Democratic National Committee and the White House.

Canadian officials acknowledged yesterday that Mr. Ressam had taken advantage of lax procedures and loose cooperation between the police and immigration authorities to obtain his false papers.

Testing for HIV at the time was a lax procedure.

"But we do believe that there has been commercial bribery and lax procedures which can put us in danger in our public lives."

Among the problems cited by the officials were sloppy handling of evidence and lax procedures within the laboratory.

Officials said that with all the inquiries into the party's lax procedures in the 1996 campaign, they have become more vigilant in screening guests.

Electronic voting, by comparison, is rife with lax procedures, security risks and conflicts of interest.

The interviews were conducted over the last two years as part of a lengthy review into accusations of lax procedures at the laboratory.

But in the end, he said lax procedures and poor communications among top officials had made a mess of the hospital's management.