1 week Ago By Reuters
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - British retail tycoon Philip Green on Tuesday lost a legal case against the United Kingdom over the use of parliamentary privilege, which was invoked to publicly name him in 2018 as facing allegations of sexual harassment. Green, once one of Britain's most prominent businessmen, was named in parliament as having sued to stop publication of the allegations, after he obtained an interim injunction against the Telegraph newspaper. Sign up here.
Labour politician Peter Hain used parliamentary privilege, which allows members to speak freely and their comments to be reported by the media without fear of being sued, to name Green. Green brought a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that the lack of controls on the use of parliamentary privilege to reveal information which was subject to an injunction breached the right to privacy. The court on Tuesday ruled against Green by a 5-2 majority, the majority ruling saying that it is "for national parliaments to assess the need to restrict conduct by their members".
The parties have three months to decide whether to appeal against the decision to the court's grand chamber for a final ruling, a court spokesperson said. Green became one of Britain's best known retail tycoons when he bought department store group BHS in 2000 and Topshop owner Arcadia in 2002. The entrepreneur was dubbed the 'king of the high street' and knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but his reputation was damaged by the collapse of BHS after he sold the chain for one pound in 2015 to a businessman who had previously been declared bankrupt.
The Telegraph in 2018 sought to publish allegations of sexual and racial harassment against employees, which Green denied. Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab.
