§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many legal proceedings he is pursuing against newspapers, in addition to that concerning theSunday People newspaper, in order to prevent publication of information about the force research unit. [143187]
§ Mr. HoonIn addition to the action against theSunday People, legal proceedings are extant against one other newspaper, The Sunday Times, although no action has been taken since I obtained an order in December 1999 preventing the publication of certain information about the force research unit which would put lives at risk or damage national security.
§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Treasury Solicitor hours were spent in respect of each of the five recent court hearings involving his Department and Mirror Group newspapers and at what cost; on how many occasions a solicitor of the Treasury Solicitor's Department was employed to deliver material by hand to the editor of theSunday People and at what cost; and how many staff hours employees of his Department have spent in these actions and at what cost. [143188]
§ Mr. HoonStaff in the Treasury Solicitor's Department have spent a total of some 200 hours on work relating to all five recent court hearings involving the Ministry of Defence and Mirror Group Newspapers, at a total cost of approximately £16,700. Information as to the amount of time spent on each court hearing is not currently available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. A solicitor of the Treasury Solicitor's Department delivered court orders to the editor of theSunday People personally on two occasions, at a total cost of £318.
Records of staff hours spent by MOD employees, including internal legal advisers, and their costs, or individual cases, are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.