Protecting the Young Is More Important Than Prosecuting Ghosts

The Telegraph
August 5, 2016

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/08/06/protecting-the-young-is-more-important-than-prosecuting-ghosts/

Dame Lowell Goddard has stepped down as chairman of the public inquiry into child sex abuse, the third person to do so – triggering a desperate hunt to find a replacement. The stated motivation of the inquiry is a noble one. Child abuse is a heinous crime and has been shielded by institutional failure. Victims and their families want the justice they are owed.

The thirst for endless public inquiries is unhelpful. Contemporary victims are rarely rescued by long, expensive discussions of hindsight that can feel like a prosecution of past decades.

But, as Charles Moore writes, there is good reason to pause and think before proceeding with this particular inquest. It is no coincidence that governments have struggled to find an effective chairman. The indictment of the entire establishment by some campaigners has meant that any person with almost any connection to that establishment has been deemed unacceptable – and judges, generally, are well-connected people.

This problem speaks to the enormous, unwieldy scope of the investigation. It is unlimited to any particular period of history or part of British society, and can effectively put ghosts on trial. Accused people are normally allowed some opportunity to defend themselves. The dead obviously cannot do that, which means that this inquiry operates within a reality well beyond the normal bounds of British justice.

The thirst for endless public inquiries is unhelpful. Contemporary victims are rarely rescued by long, expensive discussions of hindsight that can feel like a prosecution of past decades. There are terrible things happening right now among the living that need to be addressed – one example is the recent child abuse scandal in Rotherham that exposed failings within local government and police. Enough talk – get on with the job of protecting the young.