Lord Janner
Image courtesy BBC
The decision announced today by the Goddard Inquiry to carry out a thorough investigation into the allegations against Lord Janner is good news. I had wondered why the inquiry had been so silent for so long following the statement by Alison Saunders, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, that Janner would have been prosecuted save from him suffering advanced Alzheimer’s Disease. Frankly it would have outrageous if the inquiry did not conduct a thorough investigation.
The full statement plus a Q and A is on the inquiry’s website here .
It will remain to be seen how exactly this will be done and whether any of the evidence will be heard in public or whether the inquiry will publish a full report on it after the investigation. But the right things appear to have been put in place including ensuring that all the key documents are handed over to the inquiry.
Of course this decision comes at a time when the inquiry itself could face a judicial review for deciding not to appoint survivors and its plans to limit access and powers of people appointed to its advisory committee.
There is also the fact that as well as the review of the DPP’s controversial decision not to prosecute Lord Janner and any potential legal action to get the decision reversed that Goddard will not be able to proceed immediately.
But what is absolutely essential is that the scandal surrounding the failure to prosecute Lord Janner earlier by the police and the legal authorities is properly investigated and the survivors are given a chance to tell their stories. In the meantime we must be vigilant to ensure the right thing is done.
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Westminster Confidential 
Once appeals challenges reviews have concluded is there any reason why a special investigation could not begin or publishing an individual report with findings when this has completed?
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Don’t see why not myself.
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Are you serious?? Won’t be looked at till later. Goddard will have to find for the complainants and the other side will call foul
If goddard sets him free then the enquiry panel is finished.. Respect if any will be gone
What’s needed is what survivors wanted in first place which is totally independent enquiry
And don’t start blaming survivors for terry mays mess ups either
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David, they are just playing politics with this. If Labour is in power after next Friday they will scrap the inquiry and claim they are doing it on behalf of the victims. The last thing a Labour government would want is an inquiry into Janner, it be like opening Pandora’s box. So when they come into power they will get rid of the inquiry and then a former home secretary will have a field day accusing the Labour party of a cover up. It is all politics, and nothing to do with justice for the victim. My own experience of court cases is one of theatre rather than Justice and I have seen people walk away laughing after cases have been thrown out on technicalities. This country’s democracy is in rapid decline and it is partly due to the lawmakers and enforcers of the law seeming to think they are above the Law.
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I hope not ! If so we must continue the campaign for justice to all the victims .
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Goddard has a job on hand which is to get her inquiry organised and under way. It’s not clear why she has picked the hot potato from out of Alison Saunders hands. Certainly she should be looking at the Janner historic cover-up as part of the overall inquiry but it’s unwise for her to present the inquiry as a mechanism for neutralising current challenges to the Saunders decision that sending Janner for trial was not in the public interest. It looks as though Goddard has kicked off her inquiry with an offer to help out the establishment.
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