Lord Janner Dead.

[not-bono-ever]

nopes. Judge will confirm he is dead, files handed over to *whoever*.

 

[Lurdan]

Can I assume then, that there'll definitely be no 'trial of the facts' now? Lacking in legal knowlege here

Guardian quoting CPS sources as saying that.

 

[William of Walworth]

Thanks for that link Lurdan . Plenty of people not at all happy about it, rightly not.

 

[existentialist]

No, when the perpetrator karks it, that's game over. The one positive in this situation is that there is likely to be some inquiry into the allegations - but someone abused by someone not part of the "Establishment" would not have that option. It's a shame that in a justice system that has done a lot to hear the voice of victims, this glaring gap is there: victims may well have spent a lot of time and emotional energy giving statements and dealing with all the psychological fallout, and to have the process suddenly just stop takes some serious readjustment.

((victims))

 

[existentialist]

The thing is, with almost all of these child sexual abuse cases, it shouldn't just be the perpetrator who is being held up to scrutiny: we need to know why and how, as a society, we were able to facilitate these people's behaviours so well, and for so long. If all we do is to focus on perpetrators, on a case-by-case basis, we miss the opportunity to ask ourselves the hard questions, and find answers that can help to protect people today from the activities of such perpetrators. If we don't do that, all we'll ever be doing is catching and punishing them after-the-fact, and that is, frankly, too damn late.

I don't hold out huge hopes for the inquiry into abuse amongst politicians like Janner - the ramifications of the hard questions that need asking are such that, without an imperative like a criminal prosecution (or defending against one) to force the issue, it will always be easier not to ask them. We'll get anodyne conclusions, vague assurances, and a general implication that that was then and this is now, and it doesn't happen like that any more. Until next time.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Aye good point, much harder to get justice once your abuser has popped his clogs.

They can sue his estate, I think.