I don't believe for one second the man isn't able to stand trial.
And Vaz is certainly well enough to apologise for his behaviour and answer some probing questions.
Child abuse inquiry judge to investigate Lord Janner allegations
http://gu.com/p/48xx9
A high court judge is to investigate whether child sexual abuse allegations against Lord Janner were the subject of an establishment cover-up.
Justice Lowell Goddard, the chair of a major independent inquiry into child abuse ordered by the home secretary, Theresa May, will seek evidence from the Labour peer’s alleged victims and may even summon the 86-year-old to give evidence.
The New Zealand judge has also asked Britain’s top prosecutor, Alison Saunders, to hand over all the prosecution files against Janner as part of an “exhaustive and critical examination of the institutional decision-making processes†in the case.
The announcement came after Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, attracted widespread criticism earlier this month when she said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Janner over 22 alleged sexual offences but that he would not be prosecuted because he has Alzheimer’s disease.
The move by Goddard raises the prospect of Janner being summoned to give evidence before her inquiry if he is deemed medically fit.
The judge said: “The depth of public concern surrounding the Janner case exemplifies the need for a thorough and wholly independent investigation into the adequacy of institutional responses to child sexual abuse, particularly where persons in positions of influence are alleged to have abused children in institutional settings and have, for one reason or another, escaped prosecution over a number of years.
“It would of course be quite wrong to pre-judge the outcome of our inquiries in any way, but there is, in my view, a clear public interest in conducting an exhaustive and critical examination of the institutional decision-making processes in this case and in exposing them to public scrutiny.â€
Janner, who has dementia, was accused of carrying out a catalogue of abuse against young boys, and more than a dozen people came forward to claim he abused them during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Saunders has come under intense pressure over her handling of the case but insisted she made the right decision not to prosecute the peer because his dementia was so severe he could “play no part in a trialâ€.
Goddard said she would consider the medical evidence provided to the DPP before deciding whether to summon Janner to an interview. She may also commission her own expert advice on whether Janner is fit to give evidence.
As part of the review, the judge has asked Leicestershire police to hand over all the evidence collected by the force.
Despite being the subject of allegations for 25 years, Janner has only once been interviewed by police. On that occasion – in 1991 – he answered “no comment†to detectives’ questions.
Saunders has already announced a judge-led inquiry into the Crown Prosecution Service’s handling of the Janner case, but Goddard’s inquiry will go much further and scrutinise a number of public bodies, including Leicestershire police and Leicestershire county council, which ran a children’s home where the politician allegedly abused his victims.
The inquiry cannot make findings of criminal liability against Janner but could reach findings of fact on the allegations if there is sufficient evidence.
The judge said she had an “open mind at this stage†about whether oral evidence against Janner would be heard in public.
Janner’s family has issued a statement saying he is a man of the highest integrity and “entirely innocent of any wrongdoingâ€.
