Monday, November 12, 2018

Hearings on Lord Janner put back until February 2020

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The Leicester Mercury reported earlier this month that the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) will not now hold its public hearing into child sexual abuse allegations against the former Leicester MP Greville Janner until 2020.

This, says the IICSA, is because new lines of inquiry have emerged in the Independent Police Complaints Commission's investigation of Leicestershire Police's response to the allegations against Janner.

When the hearings do take place, the IICSA website reveals that they will investigate the allegations of Lord Janner and then, if it finds some or all of them to be well founded, consider:
  • the adequacy and propriety of law enforcement investigations and prosecutorial decisions relating to allegations falling within paragraph 1 above, including whether any public authority hindered or prevented the effective investigation and/or prosecution of allegations of child sexual abuse by Lord Janner;
  • the extent to which Leicestershire County Council was aware of the allegations of abuse and the adequacy of its response;
  • the extent to which the Labour Party, government departments, and/or the security and intelligence agencies were aware of the allegations of abuse and, if so, the adequacy of their response;
  • the extent to which any other public or private institution may have failed in its duty to protect children from sexual abuse;
  • whether the Kirkwood inquiry was conducted adequately and whether the mission of any mention of Lord Janner in the Kirkwood report was appropriate.
In light of those investigations the Inquiry will publish a report setting out its findings and recommendations to improve child protection and safeguarding in England and Wales.

The IICSA is being largely ignored by the media, even though it has already led to the resignation of one council leader, but I suspect the hearings on Lord Janner will attract renewed attention.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The media know what they are doing. The whole inquiry seems to be the biggest lawyers; bonanza ever (thanks to T May). A lot of the time they are merely rehashing real cases of abuse which have already been thoroughly examined elsewhere.


I don't really know what to think about Janner. His son had quite a powerful piece in the Sunday Times yesterday attacking the whole concept of investigating someone who can't defend himself.

The Westminster strand is the worst of all. Ted Heath and Leon Brittan have effectively been exonerated and they are scraping the barrel for things to examine. The real villain is Tom Watson who deserves to be kicked out of public life for his baseless insinuations and innuendo,