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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2020
This article describes the changes in criminal law and procedure that the author saw take place during 50 years of practice, turning a criminal justice system in which it was difficult to prosecute cases involving multiple child witnesses into one much better adapted to cases alleging sexual assault and the needs of vulnerable witnesses. The article reviews, decade by decade, the major developments in people's understanding and perception of the prevalence of physical and sexual abuse, touching on a number of high-profile events. It traces the development of the Church of England's safeguarding policy, noting how it tracks the development of secular policies. In parallel it identifies a number of significant cases of sexual abuse by clergy which were/are the subject of ‘lessons learned’ reviews. A note of caution is however sounded arising from the cases of Carl Beech and Bishop Bell, in particular the danger of not following well-established investigative procedures but jumping to judgement. The article concludes by suggesting how investigation and fact-finding might take place in the future, independent of the bishops, but under the supervision of a ‘judge’, and argues that effective risk assessments can only be based on findings of fact.
This is a lightly edited and expanded version of the text of the Ecclesiastical Law Society Northern Province lecture given at the Leeds Diocesan Offices on 29 January 2020.
2 Available at <https://www.judiciary.uk/announcements/speech-by-sir-andrew-mcfarlane-president-of-the-family-division-if-only-we-had-known-then-what-we-know-now/>, accessed 10 February 2020.
3 DHSS, Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the Care and Supervision Provided in Relation to Maria Colwell (London, 1974).
4 E Butler-Sloss, Report of the Inquiry into Child Abuse in Cleveland in 1987 (London, 1988).
5 A Wade, ‘The child witness and the criminal justice process: a case study in law reform’, PhD thesis, University of Leeds, 1997, available at <http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/422/1/uk_bl_ethos_249578.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
6 (1958) 42 Cr App R 153.
7 (1990) 90 Cr App R 91.
8 [1973] AC 296; (1973) 57 Cr App R 212.
9 [1973] 729; (1973) 57 Cr App R 381.
10 [1975] AC 421; (1974) 60 Cr App R 165.
11 (1991) 93 Cr App R 267.
12 (1995) 2 Cr App R 437.
13 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 ss 32 and 33.
14 Select Committee on Home Affairs, Memorandum 32, para 3, available at <https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmhaff/836/836m33.htm>, accessed 8 February 2020.
15 Criminal Practice Directions V, 18E.
16 [2010] EWCA Crim 1578.
17 Ibid at para 23.
18 Crown Court Compendium, 2018, <https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/crown-court-compendium-pt1-jury-and-trial-management-and-summing-up-june-2018-1.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
19 Department of Health, Child Abuse: a study of inquiry reports 1973–1981 (London, 1982).
20 Department of Health, Child Abuse: a study of inquiry reports 1980–1989 (London, 1991).
21 Wade, ‘The child witness and the criminal justice process’, p 86.
22 E Vizard and R Hughes (1995), ‘Introductory comments for Children in the Crossfire Conference, 4th and 5th April 1995’, in Michael Sieff Foundation, Children in the Crossfire: conference handbook (Surbiton, 1995), unpaginated.
23 Departmnet of Health, Lost in Care: report of the tribunal of inquiry into the abuse of children in care in the former county council areas of Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974 (London, 1999), available at <https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130124064403/http://:/www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_134777.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
24 Church of England, ‘Policy on child abuse: policy statement by the House of Bishops of the General Synod of the Church of England and recommendations on its implementation’ (London, 1995), available at <https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/8738/view/ACE002357.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
25 There seems to be no online version of this available.
26 M Kennedy, The Courage to Tell: Christian survivors of sexual abuse tell their stories of pain and hope (London, 2002). There seems to be no online version of this available.
27 Department of Health, Working Together to Safeguard Children (London, 1999).
28 The Victoria Climbié Inquiry: report of an inquiry by Lord Laming (2003), available at <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
29 Lord Laming, The Protection of Children in England: a progress report (2009), available at <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/12_03_09_children.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
30 E Munro, The Munro Review of Child Protection: final report – a child-centred system (2011), available at <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175391/Munro-Review.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
31 ‘Guidelines for the professional conduct of the clergy’, 2003, available at <http://southwell.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Appendix-N-Professional-Conduc.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
32 Protecting All God's Children (London, 2004), available at <http://www.cheltenhambranch.org.uk/publications/CoE_Protecting_Children.pdf>, accessed 11 February 2020.
33 The Bichard Inquiry: report (London, 2004), available at <https://dera.ioe.ac.uk/6394/1/report.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
34 Promoting a Safe Church, GS Misc 837 (London, 2006), available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/promotingasafechurch.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
35 R Singleton, A Lamb and D Findlater, ‘Report of the Independent Scrutiny Team into the adequacy of the Church of England's Past Cases Review 2008–2009’, June 2018, available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/PCR%20Report%20of%20IST%20-%20final%20version%20June%202018.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
36 Protecting All God's Children (fourth edition, London, 2010), available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Protecting%20All%20God%27s%20Children%204th%20edition.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
37 Available at <https://www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk/documents/wt_2010.PDF>, accessed 11 February 2020.
38 E Butler-Sloss, ‘Historic cases review of Roy Cotton and Colin Pritchard’, January 2012, available online at <https://cofechichestersafeguarding.contentfiles.net/media/documents/document/2017/05/EBS_Report__Addendum1202282.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
39 The interim report is available at <https://cofechichestersafeguarding.contentfiles.net/media/documents/document/2017/05/Visitation_Interim_Report_August_2012.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020. The final report does not appear to be currently available online.
40 Available online at <https://cofechichestersafeguarding.contentfiles.net/media/documents/document/2017/05/RM_report__EBS_Comments_1202282.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
41 This report has never been available online.
42 ‘Elliott Review findings’, available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Elliot%20Review%20Findings.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
43 ‘Victor Whitsey statement’, 17 October 2017, <https://www.chester.anglican.org/news/victor-whitsey-statement.php>, accessed 8 February 2020.
44 Singleton, Lamb and Findlater, ‘Report of the Independent Scrutiny Team’.
45 A transcript is available at <http://survivingchurch.org/2019/08/05/bbc-radio-4-sunday-programme/>, accessed 8 February 2020.
46 The report is available at <https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/foi-media/metropolitan-police/other_information/corporate/mps-publication-chapters-1---3-sir-richard-henriques-report.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
47 Lord Carlile, Bishop George Bell: the independent review (2017), available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/Bishop%20George%20Bell%20-%20The%20Independent%20Review.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
48 Ibid, para 18.
49 Briden's report is available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-01/briden_decision_open_final.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
50 ‘Responding well to those who have been sexually abused: policy and guidance for the Church of England’, GS Misc 982, 2011, available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/Responding%20Well%20to%20those%20who%20have%20been%20sexually%20abused_0.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
51 ‘Guidelines for the professional conduct of the clergy’ (revised edition, 2015), available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-10/Clergy%20Guidelines%202015.pdf>, accessed 11 February 2020.
52 ‘Promoting a Safer Church: safeguarding policy statement for children, young people and adults’, 2017, available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/PromotingSaferChurchWeb.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
53 M Gibb, An Abuse of Faith (2017), available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/report-of-the-peter-ball-review-210617.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
54 Available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/Roles%20and%20Responsibilities%20Practice%20Guidance%20V2.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
55 Available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/safeguarding%20safer_recruitment_practice_guidance_2016.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
56 Available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/dbs-faq-february-2017.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
57 Available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-12/Responding%20PG%20V2.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
58 ‘Parish safeguarding handbook: promoting a safer church’, 2018, revised 2019, revised edition available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/ParishSafeGuardingHandBookAugust2019Web.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
59 See ‘Background and overview: Past Cases Review 2 (PCR2)’, July 2019, available at <https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/PCR2%20Background%20and%20Overview.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
60 See <https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations/investigation-into-failings-by-the-anglican-church?tab=scope>, accessed 8 February 2020.
61 See <https://www.iicsa.org.uk/publications/investigation/anglican-chichester-peter-ball/introduction>, accessed 11 February 2020.
62 IICSA, The Anglican Church: case studies (London, 2019), available at <https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/11301/view/anglican-church-case-studies-chichester-peter-ball-investigation-report-may-2019.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
63 Statement on IICSA report from members of House of Bishops’, 17 May 2019, <https://www.churchofengland.org/more/safeguarding/safeguarding-news-statements/statement-iicsa-report-members-house-bishops>, accessed 8 February 2020.
64 S Parsons, ‘Have attitudes to sex changed in the Church over the past 30 years?’, 18 January 2020, <http://survivingchurch.org/2020/01/18/have-attitudes-to-sex-changed-in-the-church-over-the-past-30-years/>, accessed 8 February 2020.
65 The transcript is available at <https://www.iicsa.org.uk/key-documents/4697/view/20-march-2018-anglican-public-hearing-transcript.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
66 ‘ Reporting and acting on child abuse and neglect: summary of consultation responses and Government action’, 5 March 2018, available at <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/685465/Reporting_and_acting_on_child_abuse_and_neglect_-_response_to_consultati….pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
67 Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, s 130.
68 On this topic, see Grout, C, ‘The seal of the confessional and the criminal law of England and Wales’, (2020) 22 Ecc LJGoogle Scholar 000–000.
69 Decretum, Secunda pars, dist VI, c II.
70 See <https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/lateran4.asp>, accessed 8 February 2020.
71 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Final Report: recommendations, p 17, Recommendation 7, available at <https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/final_report_-_recommendations.pdf>, accessed 8 February 2020.
72 Emphasis added.
73 [1998] EWHC Fam 2000; [1998] 2FCR 313.
74 [1996] EWCA Civ 1317; 2 FCR 617.
