Sir Brian Henry Leveson (; born 22 June 1949) is a retired English judge who served as the

President of the Queen's Bench Division The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts. It hears appeals on point ...

and Head of Criminal Justice. Leveson chaired the public inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

, prompted by the '' News of the World'' phone hacking affair.Phone hacking: Prime minister reveals inquiry powers
BBC News, 13 July 2011

Early life

Leveson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, on 22 June 1949. He was educated at

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian ...

, a public school in

Mossley Hill Mossley Hill is a suburb of Liverpool and a Liverpool City Council ward. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Aigburth, Allerton, Childwall, and Wavertree. At the 2001 Census, the population was 12,650, increasing to 13,816 a ...

, Liverpool. He studied at Merton College, Oxford and was President of the Oxford Law Society.

Legal career

Leveson was called to the Bar at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1970. He initially practised in Liverpool and

took silk In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or a ...

in 1986.Lord Justice Leveson appointed as Chairman of the Sentencing Council
Sentencing Council, 16 March 2010 Leveson became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

in 1995, acted as a Recorder between 1988 and 2000, and as a Deputy High Court Judge between 1998 and 2000. In 2000, Leveson was appointed as a Judge of the High Court, Queen's Bench Division, and served as a Presiding Judge of the

Northern Circuit {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Northern Circuit is a court circuit in England. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but in 1876 i ...

between 2002–2005. In 2006, Leveson was appointed to the new position of Deputy Senior Presiding Judge and, on 2 October 2006, he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal. He was promoted to Senior Presiding Judge with effect from 1 January 2007. He was Treasurer of Middle Temple for the year 2020.

Notable cases

In 1989 Leveson was the lead prosecution counsel at the trial of comedian Ken Dodd. Dodd was charged with tax evasion, but was acquitted at Liverpool Crown Court, despite seemingly strong evidence. Leveson was the lead prosecution counsel during the trial of

Rosemary West Rosemary Pauline West (née Letts; born 29 November 1953) is an English serial killer who collaborated with her husband, Fred West, in the torture and murder of at least nine young women between 1973 and 1987;

, who went on to be convicted for the murders of ten young women, including her own eldest daughter, in November 1995. While sitting with Lord Justice Mantell in the Court of Appeal in 2002 under the

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Lord Woolf Harry Kenneth Woolf, Baron Woolf, (born 2 May 1933) is a British life peer and retired barrister and judge. He was Master of the Rolls from 1996 until 2000 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2000 until 2005. The Constitutional R ...

, he upheld the murder conviction of

James Hanratty James Hanratty (4 October 1936 – 4 April 1962), also known as the A6 Murderer, was a British criminal who was one of the final eight people in the UK to be executed before capital punishment was effectively abolished. He was hanged at Bedfo ...

. He also presided over the trial of ex-US Marine Toby Studebaker for charges relating to child grooming over the internet. He sentenced 100-year-old Bernard Heginbotham, who was found guilty of manslaughter of his wife of 67 years, 87-year-old Ida, to a 12-month rehabilitation order. He also presided over the trial of two men who were found guilty in 2005 of murdering Anthony Walker with an axe. He was one of the judges in the appeal of Ruth Ellis in 2003 who said that the appeal was without merit. In November 2007, the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, constituted by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Leveson and Mr Justice Simon, quashed the conviction of

Barry George Barry Michael George (born 15 April 1960) is an Englishman who was found guilty of the murder of English television presenter Jill Dando and whose conviction was overturned on appeal. Dando's profile and popularity ensured high public interes ...

and ordered a retrial in relation to the murder in 2001 of BBC presenter

Jill Dando Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her ...

. He was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in 2000 and sworn as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in 2006. On 1 October 2013, Leveson was appointed

, succeeding Sir John Thomas. He was one of three judges who heard an appeal in 2013 by several men who had admitted terrorist offences. One of them, Usman Khan, whose sentence was as a result changed from an "indeterminate sentence" to a "determinate term" of 16 years imprisonment, later committed the

2019 London Bridge stabbing Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Press ethics inquiry and ''News International'' phone hacking scandal

It was announced on 13 July 2011 that Leveson would lead the public inquiry into issues of British press culture, practices and ethics raised by the

News International phone hacking scandal The News International phone hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now-defunct ''News of the World'' and other British newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police b ...

. On 20 July, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the scope of the inquiry had widened to include the BBC and social media. The hearings began on Monday 14 November 2011. The full report was published on 29 November 2012 and is available online.

Later career

In 2013 Leveson was appointed as

Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University The Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University is the titular head of the university who is appointed on the approval of the board of governors. The duties of the chancellor include the conferring of degrees at graduation ceremonies and bein ...

, taking over from

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

, who stepped down at the end of his term. In 2019, Leveson was appointed as the

Investigatory Powers Commissioner The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (c. 25) (nicknamed the Snoopers' Charter) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 29 November 2016. Its different parts came into force on various dates from 30 December 2 ...

, and re-appointed for a further three-year term in October 2022.

Personal life

Leveson and his wife Lynne (daughter of Aubrey Fishel, also from Liverpool) are

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. The couple have three children, and live in

Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentie ...

References

External links

The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Leveson
Debretts.co.uk

Sentencing Council
Lord Justice Leveson – Speeches
Judiciary of England and Wales *
Brian Leveson
Brian Leveson, collected news and commentary, ''The Independent'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leveson, Brian 1949 births Living people People educated at Liverpool College Lawyers from Liverpool Alumni of Merton College, Oxford English Jews 20th-century English judges English King's Counsel Knights Bachelor Lords Justices of Appeal Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People associated with Liverpool John Moores University People associated with the News International phone hacking scandal Presidents of the Queen's Bench Division Fellows of Merton College, Oxford 21st-century English judges