Sir Charles Gray to Adjudicate Phone Hacking

News Group appoints former HC judge to oversee compensation scheme

News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and The News of the World has appointed former High Court Judge, Sir Charles Gray, to oversee the settlements for victims of phone hacking who sign up for their compensation scheme.

News Group established the compensation scheme after admitting liability in a number of claims brought in relation to newspaper-sanctioned hacking into the voicemails of celebrities by investigators and other third parties. News Group expressed the hope that victims in cases where liability is admitted will apply to the compensation scheme rather than resorting to the courts for a determination of their compensation. As an incentive, independent adjudicator Sir Charles Gray will assess how much the court would have paid in damages and add a 10% uplift.

Sir Charles commented,

"I have reviewed the terms of the proposed scheme and I am confident that it porovides a fair, effective and speedy means for determining compensation in these cases." I think it is very sensible to establish such a scheme which will provide very significant benefits to applicants as well as avoiding the enormous expense of court proceedings."

Following a distinguished career, Sir Charles is now specialising in arbitration and mediation work, as a CEDR accredited mediator and a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

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