Geoffrey Bindman

Early life

Bindman was born on 3 January 1933,{{cite book |access-date=20 July 2011

Bindman had a second cousin who owns another law firm, Bindman Solicitors LLP, trading as Bindman & Co, in Whickham, Gateshead. His brother was Professor David Bindman (1940–2025), 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

Bindman 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. He also served as a legal advisor to Amnesty International and represented satirical magazine Private Eye.

Bindman was elected as a Labour councillor for Camden London Borough Council in 1971, representing St John's ward. 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. He did not stand at the subsequent council elections in 1974.

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

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

Bindman was a supporter of OpenDemocracy, for which he wrote over 40 articles, and he chaired The Open Trust from 2003 to 2010.

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. 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".

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

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.

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

Personal life and death

Bindman was a patron of Humanists UK (formerly the British Humanist Association). He listed his recreations as "walking, music, book collecting".

In 1961, he married academic scientist Lynn Janice Winton. She later became a reader (associate professor) in Physiology at University College London.

Bindman died 4 November 2025, at the age of 92. His death was announced by his practice. Condolences were expressed by Jeremy Corbyn.{{Cite Twitter

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.

References

References

1. "BIHR Trustees". British Institute of Human Rights.
2. Carmen, Dominic. (30 January 2007). "The legal profession used not to be so self-seeking...". [[The Times]].
3. (9 February 2005). "A War on Terror or a War on Justice?". [[London South Bank University]].
4. "2007 New Years' Honours List". [[Cabinet Office (UK).
5. (3 March 2011). "Appointed Queen's Counsel". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
6. "Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC (Hon)". Bindmans LLP (en).
7. Turner, Sarah Victoria. (3 June 2025). "David Bindman (1940–2025)".
8. Robins, Jon. (13 November 2001). "Forty years old and fighting fit". [[The Independent]].
9. "The British legal profession has a duty to help ensure justice for all".
10. (1971). "London Borough Council elections, 13 May 1971". Greater London Council Research and Intelligence Unit.
11. Greater London Council. Intelligence Unit. (1974). "London Borough Council elections, 2 May 1974". G.L.C.
12. Bennetto, Jason. (27 January 1997). "I'm dying tomorrow, please clear my name". The Independent].
13. Watson, Roland. (17 March 2001). "Lawyer claims human rights were breached". The Times.
14. Wintour, Patrick. (4 January 1998). "Named, but not shamed". [[The Observer]].
15. Milne, Seumas. (21 June 1988). "Final knock at the door of Downing Street". [[The Guardian]].
16. Brittain, Victoria. (19 August 1988). "Books: third world". The Guardian.
17. "Geoffrey Bindman: Profile". The Guardian.
18. Bindman, Geoffrey. (21 May 2009). "The bigger picture". The Law Gazette.
19. (2018-07-30). "Home".
20. "The openTrust".
21. "Geoffrey Bindman and his pursuit of justice for all".
22. Mendick, Robert. (2 December 2001). "Top Labour lawyer fined over breach". [[Independent on Sunday]].
23. (November 2012). "Hopper puts the case against 'overly aggressive' SRA". Legal Futures.
24. "Our history".
25. (2 September 2012). "Desmond Tutu calls for Blair and Bush to be tried over Iraq". BBC.
26. "Declaration of Conscience: Signatories". Lawyers are responsible.
27. "Declaration of Conscience". Lawyers are responsible.
28. "Our Patrons".
29. "Interview with Dr. Lynn Bindman 2015, published 2018 for the Physiology Society Oral History Archive".
30. (2007). "Bindman, Sir Geoffrey (Lionel), (born 3 Jan. 1933), Consultant, Bindmans LLP (formerly Bindman & Partners), Solicitors, since 2004 (Senior Partner, 1974–2004)".