11/13/2022 0 Comments Mind your language![]() ![]() Paragraph 33 of the judgment in AS v TH (False Allegations of Abuse) (Rev 1) EWHC 532 (Fam) (11 March 2016) says this: David pointed out that it was shame the word ‘disclosure’ was used in this context, given the lessons we all should have learned by now from exactly what was said over 30 yrs ago 'in the Cleveland Report due to it precluding the notion that the abuse might not have occurred (see para 12.34(1))' (per MacDonald J in at The consequences here are no less severe, as while family cases may not involve a loss of liberty they often involve what many would perceive as a far worse punishment – the loss of one’s children.Īn interesting Twitter conversation was started by David Burrows on February 1st 2018, responding to a request to complete a survey for the NSCPCC to ‘inform a new resource to help professionals deal with disclosure’. It is clear the the culture of ‘I believe’ is not confined to criminal investigations but still operating in family cases. The impact of ‘I believe’ on family cases How can any investigation that follows a commitment to ‘believe’ a ‘victim’ be carried out fearlessly and impartially? A botched investigation into serious allegations has very significant consequences for not merely the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator but for society as a whole. To begin an investigation from a starting point of ‘belief’ is to corrupt the investigative process itself. ![]() This terminology arose out of the stated policy of the College of Policing in 2016 that when someone makes an allegation of crime, “the police should believe the account given”.Īs the review makes clear – this is a nonsense. He is clear that use of the word ‘victim’ to describe a complainant at the outset of an investigation should cease. ![]() See for example the independent review carried out by Sir Richard Henriques in October 2016 of the Met’s investigations into ‘non-recent sexual abuse allegations against persons of public prominence’. There has been a great deal of talk recently about police investigations which start from a premise of ‘believing’ the ‘victim’ and a great deal of reasonable concern about what happens to those investigations if they begin from the premise that the ‘victim’ is telling the truth. ![]()
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