The International Senate of SOS Children’s Villages – the federation’s highest supervisory body – decided to establish a global Independent Special Commission in May 2021. The Independent Special Commission will examine cases of failings, including child abuse, corruption, and breaches of regulations. The commission is one of eight prioritized actions in the SOS Children’s Villages Safeguarding Action Plan. 

The Independent Special Commission, which was appointed on 1 October 2021, was originally comprised of four independent experts: Justice Willy Mutunga (chair), Justice Gita Mittal, Mr. Andras Vamos-Goldman (who served until 31 March 2022) and Ms. Mona Ali Khalil (who served until 30 September 2022). Updates on the Commission’s ongoing work are provided on this dedication page and on the Commission’s own website.

Mandate

• Assess, map and prioritize allegations and concerns raised, and initiate further investigations as deemed necessary;
• Based on the findings of the investigations, confirm whether or not misconduct has occurred, or whether or not the concerns are justified;
• Assess in a broader sense the allegations and concerns regarding the areas of child safeguarding, safeguarding in general, usage of funds, compliance, management and governance and other areas it deems important, and recommend the appropriate measures to the International Senate.

Justice Gita Mittal, India

Justice Gita Mittal has had an illustrious legal practice in all courts and other judicial forums in India since 1981. She served as a judge on the Delhi High Court starting in 2004, and became the Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court from 2017 to 2018. After that role, Justice Mittal was sworn in as the first woman Chief Justice for the State of Jammu and Kashmir. She retired from that position at the end of 2020.

Justice Mittal’s judgments have had a widespread impact in numerous areas of the law, including supporting the rights of women, people with disabilities, and victims of sexual violence.

She has been recognized internationally for her judicial interventions and innovations, among them in designing the ‘Vulnerable Witness Deposition Complexes’ in trial courts in Delhi. These courts were designed with the aim of eliminating any courtroom interface between the victims of sexual offences and the accused persons, preventing any secondary traumatization to the victims and to enable them to testify comfortably.

She also spearheaded an initiative to bring justice to people living in remote areas of India. The programme attempts to address this issue by using technology to allow citizens to register their cases through local post offices and other service centers. These complaints are electronically transmitted to the court, which reads the petition, hears the petitioners electronically and judicial orders are returned by the same mode.

Over the career, Justice Mittal has conducted programmes on several topics of social relevance including legal aid, gender and disability sensitization, the environment, disaster management and the constitutional rights of the marginalized.  

Justice Mittal is a recipient of the prestigious Nari Shakti Puruskar Award, the highest civilian honour for women in India, conferred by the President of India in 2018. She has a BA in Economics with Honors from Lady Shri Ram College For Women in Delhi, in 1978, and a law degree from the Campus Law Centre, Delhi University, graduating with an LL.B in 1981.