The Chair of the IJCI Frances Oldham has made a statement on the progress of the Inquiry. Mrs Oldham was speaking at the close of hearings this year.
To date, the Inquiry has heard evidence from a number of expert witnesses and more than 90 former residents of Jersey's care and foster homes.
Their evidence will continue when hearings restart on Tuesday 13 January 2015.
The Inquiry will then move onto its next phase and hear from those who worked or were involved in the care system.
Thanking everyone who'd contributed to the Inquiry so far, Mrs Oldham reminded potential witnesses that it was not too late to get in contact.
The team will remain at work over the Christmas period, preparing for next year's sittings.
Describing the tracing and preparation of documents as "painstaking but essential", Mrs Oldham said the Inquiry had received 150 thousand pages of documents so far, spanning 7 decades.
She added that all of the evidence will be considered by the Panel, including Alyson Leslie and Sandy Cameron, when they decide what has gone wrong in Jersey's care system over so many years and make recommendations to keep children safe in the future.
Video Notes:
00:00 Slate
00:05 “There will be no further hearings in 2014. But the team will still be working to prepare for next year’s sittings.
The next hearing will be on Tuesday the 13th of January, when we will hear more evidence about Haut de la Garenne, followed by evidence from former residents of Jersey’s other care and foster homes.
We will then move to the next stage of the Inquiry and hear evidence from people who worked or were involved with the care system.
To date have heard evidence concerning more than 90 former residents. We’ve also heard evidence from a number of expert witnesses.
I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to the work of this Inquiry.
We have also been in contact by writing with more than 300 potential witnesses. It is still not too late to get in touch with us.
The work to trace and prepare documents spanning seven decades is painstaking but essential, concerning as it does more than 150,000 pages so far.
All of this evidence we will consider when deciding what went wrong in Jersey’s care system over so many years and making recommendations to keep children safe in the future."
01:29 Frances Oldham QC enters the IJCI Hearing Room