Geoffrey Bindman

Last updated

Geoffrey Bindman
Born
Geoffrey Lionel Bindman

(1933-01-03) 3 January 1933 (age 90)
Education Oriel College, Oxford (BA, BCL)
Spouse
Lynn Winton
​
(m. 1961)​
Children3

Sir Geoffrey Lionel Bindman KC (Hon) (born 3 January 1933) [1] is a British solicitor specialising in human rights law, and founder of the human rights law firm Bindman & Partners. He has been Chair of the British Institute of Human Rights since 2005. [2] [3] He won The Law Society Gazette Centenary Award for Human Rights in 2003, [4] and was knighted in 2007 for services to human rights. [5] In 2011, he was appointed Queen's Counsel. [6]

Contents

Early life

Bindman was born and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne to a family descended from Jewish immigrants. [3] His father Gerald (1904–1974) was a GP who married Rachael Lena Doberman in 1929. Bindman attended the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, and then left Oriel College, Oxford, with two degrees in law: [7] a BA (later converted to MA) and a postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law in 1956, qualifying as a solicitor three years later.

Bindman has a second cousin who owns another law firm, Bindman Solicitors LLP, trading as Bindman & Co, in Whickham, Gateshead. His brother is Professor David Bindman (born 1940), emeritus Durning-Lawrence professor of the history of art at University College London and research fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University.

Career

He became a legal advisor to the Race Relations Board in 1966, a job he retained for 17 years, also following its merger into the Commission for Racial Equality. [1] [3] He also served as a legal advisor to Amnesty International [4] and represented satirical magazine Private Eye . [8]

Bindman was elected as a Labour councillor for Camden London Borough Council in 1971, representing St John's ward. [9] [10] At the time, he was working for a solicitors' firm in Gray's Inn. Along with his fellow councillors, they funded the establishment of the Camden Community Law Centre. It opened in 1973, and Bindman was the first chairman of its management committee. [9] He did not stand at the subsequent council elections in 1974. [11]

In 1974, Bindman established Bindman & Partners as a firm with the aim of "protecting the rights and freedoms of ordinary people." [12] He has personally acted as lawyer for numerous high-profile people including James Hanratty (executed 1962), [13] Keith Vaz [14] and Jack Straw. [15]

In the late 1980s, Bindman visited South Africa as part of an International Commission of Jurists delegation sent to investigate apartheid [16] and subsequently became editor of a book on the topic, South Africa and the Rule of Law. [17] Bindman also continued his international human rights work, acting as a United Nations observer at the first democratic election in South Africa [18] and representing Amnesty International's interests in the British litigation regarding Augusto Pinochet in the late 1990s. [19]

Bindman was fined £12,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2001 for acting despite having a conflict of interest, as well as for breach of confidentiality. It was remarked at the time that he was the "most eminent" lawyer ever to be brought before such a tribunal. [20] In 2012, Andrew Hopper QC, who was a leading prosecutor before the Tribunal until 2002, reviewed Bindman's case. He found the main charge was at worst "a 'bare conflict' having no adverse consequence" and said the Tribunal's verdict on its seriousness was "incomprehensible". He also suggested the decision to prosecute and the level of the fine were reactions to Bindman's "robust" defence to the charges against him. Hopper sympathised with the view that Bindman was treated "disproportionately because of his stature in the profession". [21]

Bindmans became a limited liability partnership in 2008, and was renamed Bindmans LLP. [12]

In September 2012, Bindman told BBC Radio 4 he agreed with Desmond Tutu that British prime minister Tony Blair should be prosecuted on the grounds that starting the Iraq War was a "crime of aggression" in breach of the United Nations Charter. [22]

In March 2023, Bindman became a signatory [23] to the "Lawyers are responsible" Declaration of Conscience. [24]

Honours

Bindman received honorary law doctorates (LLD) from De Montfort University in 2000, and the Kingston University in 2006. He was given the Liberty Award for Lifetime Human Rights Achievement in 1999, and the Centenary Award for Human Rights by The Law Society Gazette in 2003. [25]

Personal life

Bindman is a patron of Humanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Association). [26] He lists his recreations as "walking, music, book collecting". [25]

In 1961, he married research scientist Lynn Janice Winton. She was formerly a reader in Physiology at University College London. [27] [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell</span>

Peter Kingsley Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell,, was a British lawyer and Labour Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 until 1992, when he became a life peer. Between 1974 and 1979 he was Solicitor General for England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty (advocacy group)</span> UK advocacy group and membership organisation

Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes human rights. It does this through the courts, in Parliament and in the wider community. Liberty also aims to engender a "rights culture" within British society. The NCCL was founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith, motivated by their humanist convictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Robertson</span> Australian-British lawyer

Geoffrey Ronald Robertson is a human rights barrister, academic, author and broadcaster. He holds dual Australian and British citizenship.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Sedley</span> British lawyer

Sir Stephen John Sedley is a British lawyer. He worked as a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales from 1999 to 2011 and was a visiting professor at the University of Oxford from 2011 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TLT LLP</span> British law firm

TLT LLP is a UK law firm headquartered in Bristol. It was named Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2021. Based on its revenue, TLT was among the top 50 law firms in the UK in 2020, according to The Lawyer. Its revenue was £110m in 2020–21; this represents an increase of 11% on 2019–20 (£98.8m) and a 25% rise on the 2018–19 figure (£87.6m). The firm employs over 1,000 staff. The firm has offices in London and Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast and opened its Birmingham office in 2023.. Overseas, the firm operates an office in Piraeus, Greece. It also has strategic partnerships with European firms GSJ advocaten in Belgium and Holla in the Netherlands to deliver international cross border services for clients.

Shahram Taghavi is a barrister practising in the United Kingdom. He is a specialist in Judicial Review, Human Rights, Immigration and EU law. He was called to the England & Wales bar in 1994. He is a partner at Article 1, a law firm specialising in immigration, EU freedoms of movement and human rights law. He practised as an independent barrister at Doughty Street Chambers specialising in human rights, immigration and public law. He was joint head of the Human Rights and Public law departments and head of the Immigration department at Simons Muirhead & Burton solicitors. He was a Senior Barrister at Bates Wells & Braithwaite LLP as a member of their Public & Regulatory, Human Rights and Immigration departments, Deputy Head of Human Rights and Immigration at Lewis Silkin LLP, Head of Human Rights and Immigration at Charles Russell LLP and National Head of Immigration and Human Rights at Grant Thornton LLP.

ACS:Law was a United Kingdom law firm specialising in intellectual property law. Prior to 2009, its most notable case was the defence of a British national accused of public indecency in Dubai. The firm is best known for its actions against persons allegedly infringing copyright through peer-to-peer file sharing. The firm ceased pursuing file sharers in January 2011 and ceased trading on 3 February 2011.

Lionel Francis Blackman is an English solicitor advocate and senior partner of an Epsom criminal litigation practice. He has written and co-authored investigative reports in civil and political human rights, and is the current Director of the Solicitors' International Human Rights Group (SIHRG), a group he co-founded in 2005 and chaired between 2009–15.

Martyn Day is a British solicitor specializing in international, environmental and product liability claims who founded – and is the Senior Partner of – the law firm Leigh Day. He was a director of Greenpeace Environmental Trust, having stepped down as chairman of Greenpeace UK in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Nice</span> British barrister

Sir Geoffrey Nice KC is a British barrister and judge. He took part in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and was lead prosecutor at Slobodan Milošević's trial. He is chair of the China Tribunal and the Uyghur Tribunal, which have investigated human rights abuses in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Buckland</span> British Conservative politician

Sir Robert James Buckland is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Wales from July to October 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South Swindon since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Stephens (solicitor)</span> English solicitor

Mark Howard Stephens is an English solicitor specializing in media law, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech and human rights. He is known for representing James Hewitt when allegations of his affair with Diana, Princess of Wales first emerged. In 2010, he represented Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, defending him against an extradition request to Sweden based on suspicion of numerous sexual offences. He also founded the law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, which has represented several high-profile clients in media and entertainment law cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonia Burgess</span> British immigration lawyer

Sonia Burgess was a leading British immigration lawyer. Winstanley-Burgess solicitors, co-founded by Burgess in 1975, became one of the UK's "most respected asylum and immigration law practices".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Investigatory Powers Tribunal</span> State surveillance tribunal in the United Kingdom

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is a first-instance tribunal and superior court of record in the United Kingdom. It is primarily an inquisitorial court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scots law</span> Legal system of Scotland

Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland law, it is one of the three legal systems of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabinder Singh (judge)</span> British judge (born 1964)

Sir Rabinder Singh, PC, styled The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Singh, is a British Court of Appeal judge and President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, formerly a High Court judge of the Queen's Bench Division, a King's Counsel and barrister, formerly a founding member of Matrix Chambers and a legal academic.

Farrer & Co is a British law firm headquartered in London, England serving private individuals, charitable institutions and corporations. They have, over their more than three hundred years of operation, acted for many of the Kings and Queens of England and later Great Britain and the United Kingdom, including Queen Elizabeth II, as well as many leading public figures.

Philip Joseph Shiner is a British former human rights solicitor. He was struck off the roll of solicitors in England and Wales in 2017 over misconduct relating to false abuse claims against British troops. He was Head of Strategic Litigation at Public Interest Lawyers (International) from 2014 until the firm's closure on 31 August 2016. He had previously been Principal at Public Interest Lawyers Ltd from 1999 to 2014.

Saimo Chahal KC (hon) is a British lawyer specialising in human rights. She was formerly joint head of the public law and human rights team at Bindmans LLP, in London.

References

  1. 1 2 BINDMAN, Sir Geoffrey (Lionel). Who's Who 2011. Oxford University Press . Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  2. ↑ "BIHR Trustees". United Kingdom: British Institute of Human Rights. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 Carmen, Dominic (30 January 2007). "The legal profession used not to be so self-seeking..." The Times. UK. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 "A War on Terror or a War on Justice?". UK: London South Bank University. 9 February 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  5. ↑ "2007 New Years' Honours List". Cabinet Office Ceremonial Secretariat. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  6. ↑ "Appointed Queen's Counsel". The Daily Telegraph . UK. 3 March 2011. p. 28.
  7. ↑ "Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC (Hon)". Bindmans LLP (en). Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  8. ↑ Robins, Jon (13 November 2001). "Forty years old and fighting fit". The Independent . UK. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  9. 1 2 "The British legal profession has a duty to help ensure justice for all". openDemocracy. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  10. ↑ London Borough Council elections, 13 May 1971 (PDF). London: Greater London Council Research and Intelligence Unit. 1971. ISBN   0-7168-0387-9. OCLC   16192301.
  11. ↑ Greater London Council. Intelligence Unit (1974). London Borough Council elections, 2 May 1974 (PDF). London: G.L.C. ISBN   0-7168-0621-5. OCLC   16281370.
  12. 1 2 "Our history". Bindmans. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  13. ↑ Bennetto, Jason (27 January 1997). "I'm dying tomorrow, please clear my name". The Independent . p. 8.
  14. ↑ Watson, Roland (17 March 2001). "Lawyer claims human rights were breached". The Times. UK.
  15. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (4 January 1998). "Named, but not shamed". The Observer . UK. p. 19.
  16. ↑ Milne, Seumas (21 June 1988). "Final knock at the door of Downing Street". The Guardian . UK.
  17. ↑ Brittain, Victoria (19 August 1988). "Books: third world". The Guardian.
  18. ↑ "Geoffrey Bindman: Profile". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  19. ↑ Bindman, Geoffrey (21 May 2009). "The bigger picture". The Law Gazette. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  20. ↑ Mendick, Robert (2 December 2001). "Top Labour lawyer fined over breach". Independent on Sunday . p. 6. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  21. ↑ "Hopper puts the case against 'overly aggressive' SRA". Legal Futures. November 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  22. ↑ "Desmond Tutu calls for Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq". BBC. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  23. ↑ "Declaration of Conscience: Signatories". Lawyers are responsible. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "Declaration of Conscience". Lawyers are responsible. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  25. 1 2 3 "Bindman, Sir Geoffrey (Lionel), (born 3 Jan. 1933), Consultant, Bindmans LLP (formerly Bindman & Partners), Solicitors, since 2004 (Senior Partner, 1974–2004)". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u7538 . Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  26. ↑ "Our Patrons". Humanists UK. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  27. ↑ Interview with Dr. Lynn Bindman 2015, published 2018 for the Physiology Society Oral History Archive
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.