London's High Court has rejected a request in a lawsuit from Prince Harry that could have stalled proceedings for two years.
The request was made by the publisher of large-circulation British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, which is the target of the action by the member of the British royal family.
In total, 42 people are suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, over allegations that its journalists, or private detectives hired by them, were involved in illegal activities and invasions of privacy .
A trial focusing on some of these allegations, possibly including Harry's, is due to begin at London's High Court in January 2025, but on Wednesday the NGN requested an early ruling on whether some of the proceedings had been initiated outside the six-year period for legal action.
This Friday (19), Judge Timothy Fancourt rejected the request for a preliminary trial, meaning that the actions will proceed as planned.
Fancourt said this could lead to an “unsatisfactory” two-year delay and risk increasing costs, highlighting that the NGN was unlikely to win a time limitation argument in every case.
Last July, Fancourt rejected a request from the group to quash Harry's legal action, ruling that the prince could proceed with some of his allegations regarding confidential details about him being obtained through fraud, although his allegations of wiretapping have been considered prescribed.
Actor Hugh Grant had also obtained similar permission, but reported on Wednesday that he ended up settling with NGN for a “huge sum of money”.
Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, stressed that the prince could also be forced to settle because anyone who rejects a settlement offer that was ultimately less than the damages awarded by a court could be liable. for paying both parties' legal fees, potentially running into millions of pounds.
Although NGN has paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking by the News of the World and has settled more than 1,300 claims, it has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by The Sun staff.
Source: CNN Brasil
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