UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Sandra Laville
Thursday 4 August 2016
The head of the public inquiry into institutional child abuse has resigned just over a year after setting out her vision for an unprecedented five-year investigation into historical abuse and its cover up.
In a decision that will throw the future of the major inquiry into doubt, Justice Lowell Goddard announced on Thursday evening that she was stepping down. Her resignation came 24 hours after reports criticising her for spending three months away from the UK since she was first appointed last year to lead the inquiry, which had been beset with difficulties finding a chair who was acceptable to a powerful lobby of victims’ groups.
In her letter of resignation to the home secretary Amber Rudd published on Thursday night, Goddard gave no reason for standing down. She wrote: “I regret to advise that I am offering you my resignation as chair of the Independent Inquiry into Institutional child abuse with immediate effect. I trust you will accept this decision.”
In a statement, Goddard said that deciding to take on the inquiry after it was beset with problems last year, “was a huge step to take as it meant relinquishing my career in New Zealand and leaving behind my beloved family”. She said the inquiry had a “legacy of failure” which had been “hard to shake off”.
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