GEOFFREY LIONEL BINDMAN, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, having been duly admitted to practise law before the Courts of the United Kingdom, affirms the following under penalty of perjury:

1. I am senior partner of Bindman & Partners, a firm of solicitors specializing in the fields of media and human rights law, based in London, England. I submit this affirmation to advise the Court on the subject of whether England would be an adequate forum for the plaintiff in this action to refile his claims.

2. I hold the degrees of Bachelor of Civil Law and Master of Arts from Oxford University and recently have received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from De Montfort University. I have been practising law for 38 years in England, where I am Chairman of the Labour Party’s legal organization, the Society of Labour Lawyers. Most recently, I have been representing Amnesty International, other human rights organizations, and relatives of Chilean citizens tortured and murdered under the regime of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, in the well-known case which has sought the extradition of General Pinochet to face criminal charges in Spain. I also represented the applicant journalist in the precedent-setting case of Goodwin v. United Kingdom (1996) 22 EHRR 123, in which the European Court of Human Rights held that an English High Court Order requiring disclosure of a reporter’s sources in a civil litigation violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the "European Convention"). I have undertaken human rights missions in many countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Malaysia, the former Soviet Union, Palestine, and Chile. I also am a visiting professor of law at University College, University of London.

3. I have no relationship with the plaintiff, Christopher Byrne ("Byrne"), other than as an expert witness retained by Byrne’s counsel solely in connection with the forum non conveniens motion filed by the BBC.

4. I understand that an affirmation is being submitted to the Court by Barra McGrory, one of the most distinguished solicitors in Northern Ireland, and I do not wish to tread upon his field of expertise nor burden the Court with a repetition of points he will make. Rather, I would like to (a) confirm that if Byrne is required to bring his copyright and "passing off" case in England, under no circumstances will he be allowed a jury trial, and (b) point out that pursuant to the applicable Lord Chancellor’s Civil Practice Rules 25.12 – 25.15, a United States resident can be required to post security for all of the estimated legal fees, court costs and expenses of the BBC in mounting its defense. A copy of the applicable Rules is attached to this affirmation as Exhibit A.

5. Regardless of whether Byrne is able to find solicitors and barristers who will bring his claims in England on a contingent fee basis (which is by no means a certain prospect), and even if he were willing to accept the loss of the significant advantage of a jury trial, the above-referenced security requirement easily could require Byrne to raise many thousands of pounds in order to pursue his case here. Accordingly, given my understanding that Byrne does not have the funds to post such security, a decision leaving him with the supposed option of filing in England might well result in the foreclosure of any opportunity for him to seek redress.

London, England

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GEOFFREY LIONEL BINDMAN