YOUNGER victims of child abuse will entitled to give their accounts to the public inquiry into historical abuse of children in care, its chairwoman revealed yesterday.
Susan O’Brien QC said under-18s who had experienced maltreatment up to and including on 17 December last year are eligible to take part.
She also announced yesterday that anyone who would like to have a say on how the inquiry should proceed should come forward by the end of January next year.
Marking these dates, O’Brien said: “We are developing procedures to take the evidence of survivors, as it is likely that many individuals will apply to give us their testimony.
“We are considering how best to assess the evidence from victims/survivors and all the other evidence the inquiry receives. We also require to determine which of the witnesses will remain anonymous.
“Anyone who wishes to make suggestions on how the inquiry should approach its work should contact the inquiry before January 31”.
The statutory inquiry into historical abuse of children in care is expected to last four years before reporting to cabinet secretary for education, Angela Constance.
It will investigate the abuse of children in formal institutional care including by religious orders, council run-children’s homes and secure care. It will also extend to those in foster care, long-term hospital care and boarding schools.
The Historical Child Abuse Inquiry Scotland was announced in December last year and will have the power to compel witnesses to attend and give evidence.
It comes after 15 years of campaigning by victims in orphanages stretching back decades and follows a pledge by the SNP in opposition that they would hold one when they took power.
O’Brien is best known for heading an investigation into the death of toddler Caleb Ness who was killed by his father in 2001.
Her report found failings at almost every level in the handling of the infant’s case before his death, prompting a major overhaul of social-work services in Edinburgh.
The Scottish Government said the inquiry would be “an opportunity to shine a light, where none has been before, on an appalling failure of many of Scotland’s children”.
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