UNITED KINGDOM
The Register
Dame Lowell Goddard, the former chairwoman of the UK’s high-profile inquiry into historic child sexual abuse, has blamed “bureaucratic” officials and a lack of adequate systems for “critical delays” in the investigation.
In written evidence to Parliament’s Home Affairs Select Committee, which was published this week, Goddard said it became evident in July that the inquiry was not able to deliver on its commitment to hold public hearings in 2016.
Goddard, a New Zealand high court judge, became the third chair to step down from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) last month. The inquiry was set up in 2014, and was officially under way last year.
“The delays in proceeding to hold any substantive public hearings have regrettably resulted from the inquiry’s inability to obtain in any timely way the vital infrastructure necessary to prepare for and conduct public hearings,” wrote Goddard.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.