Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Lady Doreen Lawrence have been given the green light to continue their legal case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, after it lost an attempt to have the cases thrown out at the high court.
The three high-profile individuals, along with David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes, brought legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for unlawful information gathering.
According to a statement issued by lawyers for the six individuals, the claims include allegations of illegal activity, such as homes being bugged, deceptive tactics used to obtain private medical information, and the tapping of live phone calls.
The Daily Mail, which says the claims are “preposterous smears”, has denied the allegations. In March, ANL asked a judge to rule in its favour without a trial, arguing the legal challenges against it were brought “far too late”.
In a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Nicklin said ANL had “not been able to deliver a ‘knockout blow’ to the claims of any of these claimants”.
Harry made a surprise appearance at the Royal Courts of Justice during the four-day preliminary hearing earlier this year, with John and Lawrence also appearing at the London court.
Adrian Beltrami KC, for ANL, said the individuals could have used “reasonable diligence” to discover if they had a potential claim before October 2016. The lawyer said the legal action against it had “no real prospects of succeeding” and was “barred” under a legal period of limitation.
Individuals have six years after learning they are potential victims to file a case. ANL says Harry and the other claimants began proceedings only in October 2022 but must have all had a reasonable suspicion that they were potential victims of illegal behaviour by Associated Newspapers prior to 2016, meaning they missed the six-year deadline.
The claimants argue they only recently learned they may have been victims of illegal information-gathering by individuals working for the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. They argue they could not have brought the case earlier because they did not know they were potential victims. Their lawyers said they were “thrown off the scent” and not aware of being targeted, having believed “categorical denials” from ANL over any involvement in unlawful activity.
David Sherborne, representing the Duke of Sussex and others, said ANL’s attempt to have the claims ended was as “ambitious as it is unattractive” and that members of the group each had a “compelling case”.
Rival publishers, such as Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, have spent the past 15 years dealing with hundreds of claims of illegal activity at their newspapers, often related to phone hacking or obtaining material illegally.
ANL has escaped the same barrage of lawsuits and always strongly denied engaging in phone hacking at its outlets, although it has faced accusations about its use of private investigators.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMidWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS91ay1uZXdzLzIwMjMvbm92LzEwL3ByaW5jZS1oYXJyeS1oaWdoLWNvdXJ0LWNsYWltLW1haWwtcHVibGlzaGVyLWNhbi1jb250aW51ZS1qdWRnZS1ydWxlc9IBdWh0dHBzOi8vYW1wLnRoZWd1YXJkaWFuLmNvbS91ay1uZXdzLzIwMjMvbm92LzEwL3ByaW5jZS1oYXJyeS1oaWdoLWNvdXJ0LWNsYWltLW1haWwtcHVibGlzaGVyLWNhbi1jb250aW51ZS1qdWRnZS1ydWxlcw?oc=5
2023-11-10 10:12:00Z
2590813376
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar