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Godwin Busuttil
Profile
Godwin is a leading junior specialising in all areas of media law and acts for both claimants and defendants. He has practised at 5RB since 1995. He acted for J.K. Rowling and her family in the landmark privacy claim Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd and for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in their succesful 'false privacy' claim against the News of the World. More recently he has been instructed on behalf of the defendant in CTB v News Group Newspapers and McGarry v Stoke-on-Trent City Council and for the claimant in Ambrosiadou v Coward and Rothschild v Associated Newspapers. He is accredited to work on a public access basis.
Godwin is a Contributing Editor of Gatley on Libel and Slander, the leading practitioners' work on the subject, and the Co-Editor (with former member of chambers HH Judge Richard Parkes QC) of the Entertainment and Media Law Reports. He contributed to the first edition of The Law of Privacy and the Media. He was recently appointed a visiting Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and is scheduled to teach the LLM Defamation Law course there in November 2012. He is also an accredited mediator.
He also has a sports law practice. He has represented the Jockey Club (now the British Horseracing Authority) at several Enquiries and Appeals and has also appeared on a number of occasions before the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Association.
Godwin regularly writes and gives talks on media law issues. He has published articles in the Journal of Media Law and the Entertainment Law Review. He has also contributed to television and radio broadcasts on media law topics including BBC Radio 4's Law in Action. He recently assisted with the preparation of the written submission of the Law Reform Committee of the Bar Council to the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee on the Draft Defamation Bill 2011.
Godwin has a special interest in medical issues having been the BMJ Publishing Group's main pre-publication legal adviser for over 10 years. He is a member of the Cochrane Library Oversight Committee whose role is to resolve disputes related to the content of the Cochrane Library. The Library consists of a database of systematic reviews of medical research and is internationally recognised as a key resource in evidence-based medicine (www.cochrane.org/cochrane-reviews).
Career
Called
1994 Called to the Bar
Education
Jesus College, Cambridge (BA, MPhil); Foundation Exhibitioner
City University, London, (Diploma in Law - Commendation)
Lincoln's Inn; Mansfield and Hardwicke Scholar
Inns of Court School of Law, London; BACFI Prize for Best Performance in Company & Commercial Law
Pegasus Scholar to USA
Senior Fellow in Law, University of Melbourne
Qualifications
Accredited Mediator (ADR Group)
Areas of work
- Defamation
- Privacy and Confidence
- Sports Law
- Data Protection
- Reporting the Courts
- Pre-publication Advice
- Mediation
- Public Access
- Contempt
- Copyright
- Foreign Jurisdictions
- Human Rights
- Injunctive Relief
- Malicious Falsehood
- Media Law
- Professional Negligence
Verbatim
"Very conscientious and meticulous, and doesn't cut any corners." Chambers and Partners 2012
Testimonials
Recommended consistently as a Leading Junior in Defamation by Legal 500 and in Defamation / Privacy by Chambers and Partners
"Highly industrious and a man who knows his stuff" Chambers and Partners 2010
"an extremely astute junior who provides thorough and analytical advice...excellent on his feet" Chambers and Partners 2009
"Excellent...a good man to have in the ring with you" Chambers and Partners 2008
"Conscientious...good on detail" Chambers and Partners 2007
"totally reliable...offers good judgement and an incisive legal mind...technically first class" Chambers and Partners 2006
"...earned respect for his clear understanding of the practice area" Chambers and Partners 2005
"a dedicated barrister who 'puts in all the hours needed' for his clients" Chambers and Partners 2003-4
Languages
French; some Italian
Memberships
CIPIL
ARDL
Publications
(17 Oct 2002)
(6 Dec 2008)