Phone hacking: Glenn Mulcaire granted supreme court appeal

The private investigator at the centre of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal has been given permission to appeal to the supreme court against an order to reveal who at the paper instructed him to intercept voicemails. Earlier this month the court of appeal rejected Glenn Mulcaire's challenge to rulings that he did not have the right to refuse to say who at the News of the World asked him to hack phones on the grounds that he would incriminate himself. The two-day supreme court hearing is scheduled to begin on 9 May. The orders were made in response to applications made by comedian and actor Steve Coogan and PR consultant Nicola Phillips in their civil damages claims for breach of confidence against both News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that published the News of the World, and Mulcaire. The court of appeal ruled on 1 February that Mulcaire was not entitled to section 72 privilege against self-incrimination and must reveal who at the now-defunct News International title had instructed him to hack the phones, who he had passed the information he received on to, and to whom he had replayed recordings of the messages. The master of the rolls, Lord Neuberger, refused Mulcaire permission to appeal, but acknowledged "that the supreme court may be interested in taking the case". For this reason he granted a stay on the enforcement order enabling Mulcaire to go to the supreme court to seek leave to challenge the court of appeal ruling. In a statement issued after that appeal failed on 1 February, Mulcaire said there was no dispute that he was entitled to invoke the longstanding common law privilege against self-incrimination, subject to section 72 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, on which the appeal hinged. "I am pleased that the court of appeal has recognised that this privilege remains a part of our common law," he said. "It has also emphasised that it cannot be removed in civil proceedings without safeguards for the person at risk of prosecution. "Though it considered that the act removed my privilege in these two cases, the court of appeal considered the arguments put forward on my behalf in great detail in its judgment. "It acknowledged that those arguments 'appear to be of some general significance'. "I intend to appeal this ruling to the supreme court, because this may affect my right to claim the privilege in other civil cases still being brought against me." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/mediaguardian