New Zealand judge to head government child abuse probe

By The Press Association4th February 2015News EnglandChild Abuse, Government / Politics, Inquiry, News England, Sexual Abuse

New Zealand High Court judge Lowell Goddard has been named as chair of the troubled child abuse inquiry.

Home Secretary Theresa May said Justice Goddard had been selected after a search that involved more than 150 candidates, “due diligence” on potential conflicts and consultation with victim groups.

The existing panel is being dissolved, with members able to reapply for positions, Mrs May told MPs. The terms of reference are also being revisited, potentially meaning that investigations could go back beyond 1970.

Mrs May said she was “more determined than ever” to expose people and institutions who had failed victims.

“The Home Office received more than 150 nominations from survivors, their representatives, MPs and members of the public,” she said.

“In addition, the Home Office also contacted Commonwealth countries via the Foreign Office to identify any suitable candidates.

“Each and every name was assessed against a set of criteria incorporating the views of survivors on the most important factors.

“This included the appropriate skills to carry out this complex task, experience of that subject matter, and the absence of any direct links to any individual about whom people may have concerns, or any institution or organisation that might fall under the scope of the inquiry.”

Mrs May confirmed that the wide-ranging inquiry will be put on a statutory footing under the 2005 Inquiries Act, with the power to compel witnesses to give evidence.

She said she had met with many victims and their representatives since making her last statement to Parliament on the issue in November.

“During those meeting, many people shared their experiences no matter how painful, no matter how difficult it was to speak out,” she said.

“In doing so the young survivors displayed immense courage, as did the older survivors who showed me how abuse that took place decades ago can feel like it took place yesterday …

“I am grateful to all of them.”

“Let me be clear. I am now more determined than ever to expose the people behind these despicable crimes and the people in institutions that knew about abuse but didn’t act, that failed to help when it was their duty, sometimes their very purpose to do so.

“And the people and institutions that in some cases positively covered up evidence of abuse.”

Mrs May conceded “not every survivor” would agree with what she had announced, but said there was a great deal of consensus on what was needed for the inquiry.

The first person appointed to lead the inquiry was Baroness Butler-Sloss, who stood down as chairwoman in July last year amid questions over the role played by her late brother, Lord Havers, who was attorney general in the 1980s.

Her replacement Dame Fiona Woolf resigned following a barrage of criticism over her “Establishment links”, most notably in relation to former home secretary Leon Brittan, who died last month.

Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has been campaigning on the child sex abuse issue, said the inquiry now appeared to be going in the “right direction”.

“I welcome the appointment of Justice Lowell Goddard to chair the Child Abuse Inquiry,” he said. “This has been a long and difficult process for survivors of abuse, and I know they will share my relief that we can finally get under way and that the Inquiry will begin before the general election.

“I had a productive meeting with the Home Secretary this morning, and I have confidence in the process she has gone through in order to find a new chair. It is obvious that the Home Secretary has cast the net far and wide in order to find an appropriate person and I applaud her for doing so.

“I particularly welcome the fact that the Inquiry will have the statutory powers that are needed and that I and others have been calling for. I also believe it is the right decision to reconstitute the panel and to broaden the terms of reference so that there is no cut-off date for evidence.”

The Government’s inquiry into historical child abuse has been plagued with controversy since it was established last year.

Here are the key events:

2014

:: Monday July 7: Home Secretary Theresa May announces she will establish an independent inquiry under an expert panel to examine the handling of allegations of paedophilia by state institutions as well as bodies such as the BBC, churches and political parties. It will be chaired by ”an appropriately senior and experienced figure”, she tells the House of Commons.

:: Tuesday July 8: Baroness Butler-Sloss is named as the chairwoman. Eyebrows are immediately raised by the choice. Home Affairs Select Committee chairman Keith Vaz questions the choice of a member of the House of Lords, ”no matter how distinguished”, to investigate the establishment – pointing out that her brother was Lord Chancellor during the era being probed.

:: Wednesday July 9: Calls for the appointment to be abandoned intensify over reports that Baroness Butler-Sloss’s brother, Sir Michael – later Lord – Havers, tried to prevent ex-MP Geoffrey Dickens airing claims about a diplomat in Parliament in the 1980s. Baroness Butler-Sloss insists she knew ”absolutely nothing about it” and adds: ”If people think I am not suitable, then that’s up to them.” The Home Office says it stands ”unreservedly” by its choice, adding that the former judge’s integrity is ”beyond reproach”.

:: Saturday July 12: Claims are published by the Times that Baroness Butler-Sloss refused to go public about a bishop implicated in a scandal. She is reported to have told a victim of alleged abuse she did not want to include their claims in a review of how the Church of England dealt with two paedophile priests because she ”cared about the Church” and ”the press would love a bishop”.

”I have never put the reputation of any institution, including the Church of England, above the pursuit of justice for victims,” she insists. The Home Office once again declares its ”unreserved” approval of her taking a role for which she is ”perfect”.

:: Monday July 14: Downing Street announces that Baroness Butler-Sloss is stepping aside by her own choice. In a statement, she says she was ”honoured” to have been asked but acknowledges that her family links would ”cause difficulties” for the process. Mrs May says she is ”deeply saddened” but has embarked on the search for a replacement. Mr Vaz says the whole inquiry process is becoming ”shambolic”. The process of selecting a replacement begins.

:: Friday September 5: The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Fiona Woolf, a former president of the Law Society of England and Wales, is named as the new chairwoman of the inquiry. Mrs May says she is ”confident” the leading tax lawyer has the right skills and experience to run the inquiry.

:: Sunday September 7: The Mail on Sunday reveals links between Mrs Woolf and Lord Brittan, who is likely to be called to give evidence to the inquiry over a dossier he received from Mr Dickens in 1983, documenting the alleged involvement of VIP figures in a child sex ring. Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who has led the campaign for an inquiry, says Mrs Woolf’s position would be ”untenable” if she was close to the Brittans.

:: Monday September 8: Downing Street says Prime Minister David Cameron continues to have ”strong support” for the appointment.

:: Tuesday October 21: Mrs May insists she has confidence in the inquiry chairwoman after Mrs Woolf gives details of her links to Lord Brittan. Mrs Woolf insists there is nothing in the encounters that would stop her chairing the wide-ranging probe.

Giving evidence later to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Mrs Woolf insists she has ”gone the extra distance” to declare every possible issue to reassure victims and does not have a ”close association” with the former Cabinet minister.

:: Wednesday October 22: Pressure mounts on Mrs Woolf to stand down after solicitor Alison Millar, who represents a number of abuse victims, says the chairwoman ”really does not have the necessary credibility to lead what is such an important inquiry” and calls for her to quit.

A photograph surfaces showing Mrs Woolf chatting to Lady Brittan at a prize-giving in October 2013 – she had previously stated that she had had “‘no social contact with Lord and Lady Brittan since April 23 2013”.

Senior Labour and Liberal Democrat figures voice doubts about whether Mrs Woolf could have the confidence of victims.

Family lawyer David Burrows lodges an application for judicial review of the entire inquiry set-up, saying it should be a judge-led statutory public inquiry,and complaining of its ”seriously limp” terms of reference.

:: Thursday October 30: Mr Vaz says Mrs Woolf’s attempt to detail contact with Lord Brittan tried to play down her links with the former Cabinet minister and his wife. The committee chairman says there were seven drafts of the letter and the final version ”gave a sense of greater detachment” between Lord and Lady Brittan and Mrs Woolf than her previous attempts.

:: Friday October 31: Mrs Woolf steps down as head of the inquiry, after victims’ representatives issued a unanimous call for her to be replaced following a meeting with the inquiry panel’s secretariat. She says she had no choice but to quit after accepting the victims had lost all confidence in her ability to conduct the investigation impartially.

:: Monday November 3: Mrs May apologies to survivors during a Commons statement and says she will meet survivors before appointing a new chair.

:: Tuesday November 11: A key review into the Home Office’s handling of historic allegations finds there is no evidence of organised attempts to conceal child abuse. The review by NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless and barrister Richard Whittam QC also found nothing to support claims that paedophile rights group the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) was funded by the Home Office. It came after it emerged the department ”lost or destroyed” 114 files between 1979 and 1999.

:: Thursday December 4: A number of alleged victims write to Mrs May saying they will withdraw from the inquiry unless the Government makes major changes to it.

:: Sunday December 21: Survivors say they welcome an indication from the Home Secretary that the inquiry will be given statutory powers, including the ability to compel witnesses to give evidence.

2015

:: Wednesday February 4: Mrs May is expected to announce the new chair and her possible plans for a new format of the inquiry, which could potentially involve scrapping the existing panel and replacing it with a more powerful body.