Child abuse inquiry: Judge has 'no establishment links'

BBC News
February 11, 2015

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-31426047

The judge leading the inquiry into historical child sex abuse in England and Wales has said she has no links to any person or institution which it might scrutinise.

Justice Lowell Goddard there was not such a thing as an "establishment" in her country, New Zealand.

Claims of paedophiles in Westminster in the 1980s sparked the inquiry.

Two women previously appointed to chair it have quit because of connections to people who held positions of authority.

Judge Goddard promised complete independence when she appeared before MPs on the Home Affairs Committee for a pre-appointment hearing, having been chosen by Home Secretary Theresa May to lead the inquiry.

Asked what she would do if she encountered any interference from "on high", Justice Goddard said: "It's a statutory inquiry so there are the powers under the statute.

"They of course would be utilised and my approach would be to proceed absolutely according to law."

Asked if she considered herself part of the "establishment", Justice Goddard said: "We don't have such a thing in my country.

"I did have to ask carefully exactly what is meant by it so that I did understand what I was being asked to disclose.

"My understanding [of the question] is - do I have any links into any institution or any person relevant to the subject matter of the inquiry? And no, I don't."

She said the inquiry would be "completely independent" and, though Mrs May will propose members of its panel, Justice Goddard said there would be no "practical point" choosing anyone she could not work with.

The inquiry will investigate whether "public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales".

Baroness Butler-Sloss, Mrs May's first choice as inquiry chairwoman, resigned a week after it was set up in July. She faced calls to quit because her late brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general in the 1980s.

Her replacement, Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, stood down on 31 October amid concerns over her links to former Home Secretary Lord Brittan.