Obviously the lack of paperwork was in no way contributory to the accident, but that lack of legality will have added immensely to the ramifications of the accident for the surviving relatives and family in that (as has been mentioned) insurance companies may not pay out etc. This goes towards compounding what is already a tragic and traumatic time for these people.
Generally I am of the opinion, the less regulation and official interevention the better but do think that a simple electronic system of pulling the CAA records together in a useful rather than useless bureaucratic way might be of some value.
Pilots need to be made aware of how helpless passengers are and what a massive responsibility we hold taking people flying with us.
Amen to that!