June 16, 2011 – The former High Court Judge, Sir Charles Gray, has today agreed to act as the independent adjudicator for News Group Newspaper’s voluntary Compensation Scheme for victims of illegal voicemail interception.

The appointment follows the announcement in April by News International, the parent company of NGN and publisher of the News of the World, that it had accepted liability in a number of civil cases involving the newspaper and was intending to set up the Compensation Scheme to deal with current or further cases.

The scheme will aim to avoid the costs and complexity of the court process and ensure a fair and speedy means for victims of illegal voicemail interception to be properly compensated for the damage they have suffered.

The underlying principle behind the compensation payable is that it will reflect the potential damages recoverable in a court action, plus an additional ten per cent.

This is because NGN wants applicants under the scheme to share in the considerable savings in legal costs that are likely to arise under this new fast-track procedure.

In addition, NGN guarantees to pay the legal costs of any applicant under the scheme regardless of the outcome.

Sir Charles Gray said:
"I have reviewed the terms of the proposed scheme and I am confident that it provides 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. I look forward to adjudicating awards under the scheme, at all times safeguarding the fairness of the process and the rights of applicants."

Rebekah Brooks, the Chief Executive Officer of News International, said:
"We are pleased that Sir Charles Gray has agreed to be the independent adjudicator for the Compensation Scheme. His credentials as an arbitration expert and former High Court Judge specialising in media law make him ideally placed to perform this important role. We very much hope that the scheme will be used as a fair and efficient alternative to obtaining compensation through court action and satisfy successful claimants that we sincerely regret any harm caused."

The key benefits for those who choose to apply to join the scheme rather than going through the court are that they will:

• obtain quicker access to justice without the delays and complexity of the court process
• obtain an additional 10% on the damages they receive via the adjudication
• bear no risk of having to pay any legal costs
• obtain disclosure of documents from NGN up front before they set out the detail of their claim
• have the option of obtaining compensation on a confidential basis

NGN will publish further details and a start date for the scheme in the very near future.