Les Hinton cleared of charge of contempt of Parliament by House of Commons Committee of Privileges

Les Hinton, the former Executive Chairman of News International (now known as News UK), has been cleared by the House of Commons Committee of Privileges of misleading the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee during its inquiries into privacy and phone hacking between 2009-2012.  The proceedings raised fundamental questions concerning the powers of a Select Committee to make findings of criminal liability without regard to fundamental fair trial principles. Tim Owen QC, instructed by Kevin Roberts at Morrison Foerster, has acted for Mr Hinton for the past four years.  For press coverage please see here. For Les Hinton’s statement, please see here.