Lord Janner, who has been accused of molesting nine boys, and faces 22 child sexual abuse allegations arrived in court this afternoon, after being threatened with arrest if he did not do so.
The argument over whether Lord Janner was fit to attend stems from his suffering with Alzheimer’s which in turn has affected his mental capacity. Any trial which now takes place will be what is known as a Trial Of The Facts, which unlike conventional trials does not allow the defendant to put forward a defence and no verdict is reached. The court will not pass sentence, either: it can only decide whether the offences outlined, were committed.
The extent of Lord Janner’s dementia is still not known and despite four doctors testifying that an appearance today would cause Lord Janner grave harm, the court reviewing the evidence relating to the decision to summon Janner, took the view this would not be the case. It is not yet known whether his appearance today has caused Lord Janner more distress than would normally be associated with such proceedings.
Controversy still rages over Lord Janner’s health. The CPS had initially ruled out the possibility of a trial against Janner on health grounds and public interest arguments, but this was eventually overturned by independent reviews carried out by two QCs. And whilst Janner’s suffering with dementia is not in dispute, conflicting reports about serving on Boards and his attendance at Parliament shortly before the allegations became public, have only served to cause more confusion about the extent of his illness.
The trial continues.
Researching Reform 
Reblogged this on World4Justice : NOW! Lobby Forum..
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‘whilst Janner’s suffering with dementia is not in dispute, conflicting reports about serving on Boards and his attendance at Parliament shortly before the allegations became public, have only served to cause more confusion about the extent of his illness’…. and whether dementia is a disabling factor when wielding power without considering consequences…
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I must admit I’m beginning to wonder whether all this attention on ‘historical sex abuse’ is meant to take away from public perception the reality that child abuse is happening NOW, today, and it’s not just by powerful figures or parents or live-in lovers, it’s by the State! Jimmy Savile is dead, Janner is almost so – whilst I see that failings exposed by people such as these in the past has to be investigated and ‘lessons learned’, why on earth isn’t there a full public enquiry into Social Services? They’re behaving exactly as the Catholic Church did in Ireland up to very recent history with their ‘Magdalene Laundries’, only the Laundries have been replaced by the Family Courts, the nuns by cold and often uncaring social workers, and the Priest by a Family Court Judge. The pain suffered by parents and children is identical. Everyone now, including the Church, recognises that the Laundries were inhuman and a disgrace; why cannot we recognise that the Family Courts are at the least, their equal?
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Roger. Of course they know abuse is happening now. Of course they know their sledgehammer tactics break up families. How could they not? How many powerful influential people have their dirty little secrets, that are being kept quite by others, keeping quite about their dirty little secrets! How much money, gratuities, promotions etc exchanges hands?
Stopping the financially incentives to take children into care and changing adoption policies to NO FORCED ADOPTIONS would be a start. Criminalising corruption of social workers and others working within child protection as promised by Cameron would be a good follow up but so far how many have been prosecuted? The social worker Sue Berelowitz who failed the kids in Rotherham was in fact rewarded financially!
The truth is the Government, Child Protection and Family Courts are a business! Successful buisnesses make money! Child protection doesn’t protect the kids but it makes money! Money for all involved! To quote Donald Trump it’s nothing personal, it’s just business!
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I think you’re absolutely right, Dana. I’m just amazed there’s no real outcry about it, and all the press concentrate on until something major, like Rotherham and Oxford, emerges – is ‘historical’ abuse. People protest about cuts, they protest about pensions, but very rarely do we see a protest about CURRENT child abuse, sanctioned by the State. Yet almost everyone either has been affected or knows someone who has been affected by this. I’ve said it before, and no doubt I’ll say it many times again, men and women of good faith must unite and stop fighting each other, and fight the monster business that the family court system has become, together.
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