Neil Francis Costa is a
Gibraltarian barrister and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
affiliated to the
Liberal Party of Gibraltar
The Liberal Party of Gibraltar (Libs or LPG) is a liberal political party in Gibraltar. It was founded in 1991 as the Gibraltar National Party and is led by Dr. Joseph Garcia. The LPG forms the GSLP–Liberal Alliance in partnership with the Gi ...
(LPG). In December 2011 he was elected an
MP to the
Gibraltar Parliament and was elected Minister for Tourism, Public Transport, Commercial Affairs and
the Port. After the Ministerial reshuffle of December 2014, he became Minister for Business and Employment. In October 2016, he was appointed Minister for Health, Care and Justice.
In October 2019, Costa confirmed his decision that he would not seek re-election and returned to work as a barrister.
Biography
Costa was born in
Gibraltar
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, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
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into a working-class family. He grew up in the government flat which his parents shared with his grandparents and other family members. His father was a stonemason and his mother a cashier at supermarket. He stood out when he obtained three A grades, two with Distinction, at
A-level at
Bayside Comprehensive School. He went on to study law and Spanish at the
University of Wales
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, motto = cy, Goreu Awen Gwirionedd
, mottoeng = The Best Inspiration is Truth
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, type = Confederal, non-member ...
in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
where he graduated with honours. Costa completed his law studies at the
Inns of Court School of Law
The City Law School is one of the five schools of City, University of London. In 2001, the Inns of Court School of Law became part of City, and is now known as the City Law School. Until 1997, the ICSL had a monopoly on the provision of the Bar ...
in London, was
admitted to the bar
An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
in London in November 2002 and to the Gibraltar bar in January 2003. In 2016, Costa embarked on an LL.M. in Law from the University of Edinburgh, obtaining a Distinction in October 2019.
Costa has been involved in the
politics of Gibraltar since his student days, and he joined the Liberal Party of Gibraltar in 1999. In 2007, he was elected to Parliament and became Shadow Minister for Health and Social Services. In 2011, along with Dr.
Joseph Garcia and
Steven Linares, formed the group of LPG candidates who stood in alliance with the
Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) to contest the
2011 general elections.
Re-elected to parliament in 2011, this time in
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
, Costa was appointed by
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Fabian Picardo
Fabian Raymond Picardo (born 18 February 1972) is a Gibraltarian politician and barrister serving as Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Leader of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party since 2011. At the 2015 and 2019 Gibraltar general elections, P ...
as Minister for Tourism, Public Transport, Commercial Affairs and the Port.
After the Ministerial reshuffle in December 2014, Costa was appointed Minister for Business and Employment. In October 2016, he was appointed Minister for Health, Care and Justice.
In September 2019, Costa announced that he would not stand in the
2019 Gibraltar general election
General elections were held in Gibraltar on 17 October 2019 to elect all 17 members to the fourth Gibraltar Parliament. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo announced the date of the election on Monday 16 September 2019.
The GSLP–Liberal Alliance wo ...
. After the election he resumed his legal career.
In November 2021, Costa graduated from Oxford University, New College, with Distinction in his Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law. Neil was awarded the Morris Prize for the highest overall grade for the year and for the highest grade in the dissertation.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Neil Francis
Alumni of the University of Wales
Liberal Party of Gibraltar politicians
Gibraltarian barristers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Justice ministers of Gibraltar
Health ministers of Gibraltar
Tourism ministers of Gibraltar
Transport ministers of Gibraltar
21st-century Gibraltarian lawyers