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About Geoffrey Bindman

Geoffrey Bindman is a former chairman and vice-president of the Society of Labour Lawyers.

Articles by Geoffrey Bindman

The British legal profession has a duty to help ensure justice for all

Geoffrey Bindman 17 May 2013

Legal aid and Law Centres are under threat in the UK, along with the principle of equal access to justice. Geoffrey Bindman QC says it's time for the legal profession to dig into their pockets and help meet the gap in state funding. This week's Friday Essay.

A British Bill of Rights? Report shows none is needed

Geoffrey Bindman 18 December 2012

Today's report on replacing the Human Rights Act with a bill of rights reveals the confused and flawed arguments at the root of the proposition.

Extradition: muddled, unjust, in desperate need of reform

Geoffrey Bindman 5 December 2012

Britain's extradition law must be reformed. A leading lawyer and chair of the British Institute of Human Rights explains why, and how.

Coalition deadlock over the law and politics of human rights

Geoffrey Bindman 29 August 2012

The UK Commission on a Bill of Rights seeks to unravel the disputes about national autonomy that have arisen from Britain's relationship with the European Human Rights Convention. Regardless of their findings, this inquiry should not be used as evidence to repeal the Human Rights Act. 

White male judges: the Supreme Court and judicial diversity

Geoffrey Bindman 6 July 2012

Britain's most senior judges are far removed from the make-up of the general population. The first new appointment to the Supreme Court, Eton-educated Jonathan Sumption, fits the general mould. But more than his astronomical wealth, his beliefs on the proper limitations of the judicial process are cause for concern within a system that refuses to take diversity seriously.

Safety First? The critical perils of Cameron's "compensation culture"

Geoffrey Bindman 18 April 2012

David Cameron has expressed a commitment to ”liberate” British business from “excessive” health and safety legislation. But does this ‘liberal’ rhetoric mask the relinquishing of one of the state’s vital roles? Geoffery Bindman QC challenges the ideology behind the government’s “compensation culture” campaign. 

Could Britain have tried Saif Gaddafi? - on the limits of universal jurisdiction

Geoffrey Bindman 23 January 2012

It is wrong for countries to grant immunity to foreign citizens accused of the most atrocious crimes. 

Can we rely on the Lib Dems to defend the role of human rights in Britain?

Geoffrey Bindman 14 September 2011
David Cameron pledged in the wake of England's riots to address the country's 'rights not responsibilities' culture. Will the Liberal Democrats stand firm against the Prime Minister's hostility to human rights legislation?

On becoming a silk: ritual, restriction and royal allegiance

Geoffrey Bindman 22 May 2011
The legal profession is changing, yet the elite of QCs, steeped in medieval ritual, maintain their restrictive practices. Geoffrey Bindman, who recently became a silk, argues that the link to the Queen is a sham, while the Bar's dominance of the system is deeply problematic On becoming a silk: the QC elite, ritual and restriction

Defend the Human Rights Act: the Aso Mohammed Ibrahim case shows the need for a strong response

Geoffrey Bindman 29 December 2010
It is time not only to defend the UK's Human Rights Act but to counter-attack the falsehoods and distortions of those who misrepresent it. The Labour Party must speak up for the Act which it courageously introduced to enable people to defend their fundamental rights from arbitrary power.

Race, human rights and religion: the UK's Jewish free school decision

Geoffrey Bindman 11 March 2010
How is it that the President of Britain's new Supreme Court has been quoting the Book of Deuteronomy in reaching an important judgement?

Whatever you say Gordon, the war was illegal

Geoffrey Bindman 4 March 2010
A leading lawyer sums it up, Britain's attack on Iraq was illegal

Free-born John Lilburne: A hero for our time

Geoffrey Bindman

Geoffrey Bindman (London, BIHR): My old school in Newcastle, founded in 1545, was proud of famous former pupils. Several of them were mentioned in the school song. Eldon was the procrastinating judge caricatured by Dickens in Bleak House, Armstrong an armament manufacturer, Collingwood was Nelson’s second-in–command at Trafalgar. Absent was John Lilburne, leader of the Levellers at the time of the English Civil War, who I discovered years later had been at the school in the early 17th century.

Lilburne is only now coming to be recognised as a fundamentally important figure in our political and constitutional history. He was also a man of extraordinary personal courage and determination. Cromwell thought highly of him and made him a colonel in his army but he became disillusioned with Cromwell when he abandoned the democratic programme which Lilburne passionately advocated.

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

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