Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson wins hacking appeal

FORMER News of the World editor Andy Coulson has won permission to appeal against a High Court decision that News Group Newspapers does not have to pay his potential legal costs over the phone-hacking affair.

The Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger and Lord Justice Laws in the Court of Appeal in London yesterday said 43-year-old Mr Coulson had an “arguable case” which should go before three judges at a full one-day hearing, for which no date was set.

Mr Coulson, who resigned in February 2007, has sued Rupert Murdoch’s NGN over the construction of a clause within a severance agreement.

He was in court for yesterday’s decision but made no comment.

He wants a declaration that NGN, which stopped reimbursement last August, “must pay the professional costs and expenses properly incurred” by him “in defending allegations of criminal conduct” during his tenure.

Mr Coulson, who was arrested in July 2011 over the allegations and released on bail, has always denied any wrongdoing.

He resigned from his position as Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications the previous January, saying coverage of the scandal was making it too difficult for him to do his job.

At the High Court hearing, in December 2011, NGN’s counsel said the clause covered the “occupational hazards of being an editor” and not alleged criminal activity.

Dismissing the claim, Mr Justice Supperstone said the agreement did not cover the criminal allegations made against Mr Coulson personally and if, contrary to his view, the criminal allegations were covered, no proceedings had commenced.

The Leveson Inquiry into media standards was set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

In a separate development yesterday, not-for-profit groups called for “maximum transparency” after eight Cabinet ministers were granted “core participant” status for the inquiry.

The ministers, including David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, have been given the right to see documents and witness statements in advance.

Four groups – Full Fact, English Pen, the Media Standards Trust and Index on Censorship – are asking Lord Justice Leveson to publish the names of any senior civil servants who will see the confidential material and are also asking that it is not made available to special advisers.

In an urgent application to the inquiry, they said: “All our concerns stem from an interest (and the public interest) in the transparency of the inquiry process, and consequent public faith in the inquiry and its outcomes.”

Core participant status, given to people who have a significant interest in the hearings or may face criticism, was granted last week to Business Secretary Vince Cable, Education Secretary Michael Gove, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, Home Secretary Theresa May and Chancellor George Osborne.