Luke Browne - 5RB Barristers

Luke joined 5RB in 2020. He accepts instructions across all areas of Chambers’ work, including defamation, privacy, harassment and data protection. His recent work includes:

Acting for the BBC on its application in the Supreme Court of the British Indian Ocean Territory to attend the proceedings on Diego Garcia in VT & Ors v Commissioner of the BIOT (media reporting here).
Acting for Channel Four and ITN in Dyson Technology Ltd v Channel Four Television Corp. (with Gervase de Wilde, led by Adam Wolanski KC).
Acting for Channel Four in two freedom of information appeals in the First-Tier Tribunal (decisions here and here) (led in the latter appeal by Aidan Eardley KC).
Acting for the claimant in Vine v Barton (led by Gervase de Wilde).
Acting for Times Media Ltd on an application to lift reporting restrictions in the Crown Court (media report here).
Acting for Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon OBE; Elizabeth Hurley; Sir Elton John CH CBE; David Furnish; Sir Simon Hughes; Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex; and Sadie Frost Law in their claims for misuse of private information against Associated Newspapers Ltd (led by David Sherborne).
Acting for the publisher of La Repubblica and L’Espresso in Mincione v Gedi Gruppo Editoriale SPA (led by Aidan Eardley KC).
Acting for the claimant in Aaronson v Stones (led by Gervase de Wilde).
Acting for the claimants in Wan-Bissaka & Anor v Bentley (led by Adam Speker KC).
Acting for the BBC in R. (on the application of Yar) v Secretary of State for Defence.

Luke is listed as a rising star in defamation and privacy in the Legal 500 and as Up and Coming in Chambers and Partners (defamation/privacy).

In 2021 Luke spent eight months on secondment with the BBC Litigation Department. He has provided pre-publication advice to various publications such as The Times, The Sunday Times and The Telegraph. He is the current statutes, rules and damages awards author for Gatley on Libel and Slander (13th ed., 2022), the leading practitioners’ text on defamation law and practice, and is a contributor to The Law of Privacy and the Media (4th ed., 2024), co-authoring the chapter on harassment by publication. He has provided training on media law issues to lawyers and journalists in the UK and abroad.

During pupillage, Luke’s supervisors were Adam Speker KC, Aidan Eardley KC, Kate Wilson and Jonathan Scherbel-Ball. Cases with which Luke assisted during pupillage include:

Serafin v Malkiewicz & Ors (first Supreme Court case on the public interest defence in s.4 Defamation Act 2013)
Depp v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Anor (three-week libel trial in the High Court)
ZXC v Bloomberg LP (Court of Appeal decision on the privacy rights of suspects in criminal investigations)
Turley v Unite the Union & Anor (week-long libel trial in the High Court)
DSM SFG Group Holdings Limited v Kelly (Court of Appeal decision on the use of covertly obtained confidential information in litigation)

Luke was called to the Bar of England and Wales by Middle Temple, where he was a Queen Mother Scholar. In 2020, he was called to the Bar of Ireland by the Chief Justice. He previously worked at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the UN in New York, the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade of Ireland, and the International Rescue Committee, advising on human rights, conflict, humanitarian and UN issues.

Scholarships and Awards

Queen Mother Scholarship (Middle Temple)
Blackstone Entrance Exhibition (Middle Temple)
Robert Gardiner Memorial Scholarship (University of Cambridge)
Julian Prize (Trinity College Dublin)
Entrance Exhibition Prize (Trinity College Dublin)

Called

2017 Called to the Bar of England and Wales
2020 Called to the Bar of Ireland

Education

BPP University of Law, London: BPTC
University of Cambridge: MPhil. Politics
Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po): International Diploma
Trinity College Dublin: LLB. Law

Areas of work

Privacy and Confidence
Defamation and Malicious Falsehood
Human Rights
Data Protection and Information Law
Injunctive Relief
Pre-publication Advice
Harassment
Reporting the Courts and Contempt

Testimonials

“He embodies confidence to me and the clients and conveys exceptional advice.” Chambers and Partners 2025 (Defamation/Privacy)

“He appears experienced beyond his year of call. He is technically excellent and when working with him he is proactive and goes above and beyond.” Legal 500 2024 (Defamation/Privacy)

“He is a great communicator and his attention to detail is impressive.” Chambers and Partners 2024 (Defamation/Privacy)

“Luke has an encyclopedic knowledge of case law and is very commercial, being able to foresee where a case is going to go.” Chambers and Partners 2024 (Defamation/Privacy)

“Luke is down to earth and has a good focus on the outcome of a case.” Chambers and Partners 2024 (Defamation/Privacy)