Sir David Michael Bean (born 25 March 1954) is a British judge of the

Court of Appeal of England and Wales The Court of Appeal (formally "His Majesty's Court of Appeal in England", commonly cited as "CA", "EWCA" or "CoA") is the highest court within the Senior Courts of England and Wales, and second in the legal system of England and Wales only to ...

Early life and education

David Bean was born on 25 March 1954, the son of High Court judge Sir George Bean. He was educated at St Paul's School, an all-boys

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

, London. He studied law at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

, graduating from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.

Legal career

On 29 July 1976, David Bean was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, In 1997, he was appointed a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(QC). He was appointed 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 c ...

by Middle Temple on 6 March 2001. In 2002, he was Chairman of the

General Council of the Bar The General Council of the Bar, commonly known as the Bar Council, is the representative body for barristers in England and Wales. Established in 1894, the Bar Council is the "approved regulator" of barristers, but delegates its regulatory functi ...

, the professional association for barristers in England and Wales. He became Deputy Treasurer of the Middle Temple in 2018.

Judiciary

In 1992, Bean was appointed an Assistant

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

. On 11 March 1996, he was appointed as a

on the South Eastern Circuit. On 19 July 2004, Bean was appointed a judge of the

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...

(Queen's Bench Division) and received the customary knighthood. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the presiding judge of the South Eastern Circuit. From October 2010 to March 2014, he was a Commissioner of the

Judicial Appointments Commission The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) is an independent commission that selects candidates for judicial office in courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland or Northern Ireland. ...

, the body that selects candidates for judicial office. In 2010, Mr Justice Bean presided over the trial of

Jon Venables Jon is a shortened form of the common given name Jonathan, derived from "YHWH has given". The name is spelled Jón in Iceland and on the Faroe Islands. In the Nordic countries, it is derived from Johannes. Notable people * Jon Aaraas (born 1986 ...

who had been accused of downloading and distributing indecent images of children. Venables was found guilty and Bean sentenced him to two years in prison. Bean also ruled that Venables' new identity, which had been granted after he murdered James Bulger as a teenager, was not to be published; Bulger's family criticised this decision. He also presided over the murder trial of

Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Saud Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Saud (, born 1977) is a princely member of the Saudi royal family and a convicted murderer. He is a grandson of Saud of Saudi Arabia, King Saud. Murder and imprisonment In February 2010, he was found guilty at th ...

, a member of the

Saudi royal family The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling fa ...

, and over the trial of

Asil Nadir Asilkan Nadir (1 May 1941 – 9 February 2025) was a British Turkish Cypriot businessman. He was the chief executive of Polly Peck, which he took over as a small textile company. During the 1980s, he expanded it into one of the United Kingdom's ...

for

false accounting False accounting is a legal term for a type of fraud, considered a statutory offence in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. England and Wales This offence is created by section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 which provides: ...

. On 1 October 2014, Bean was appointed a

Lord Justice of Appeal A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Just ...

. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 2014. In August 2015, he was appointed Chairman of the

Law Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

, succeeding Lord Justice Lloyd Jones. On 4 November 2015 he was made an Honorary Fellow of

The Academy of Experts The Academy of Experts (TAE; formerly the British Academy of Experts) is a UK legal institute for expert witnesses. It was founded in 1987 with the objective of providing a professional body for experts to establish and promote high objective standa ...

in recognition of his contribution to The Academy's Judicial Committee and work for Expert Witnesses. In January 2019 he became Treasurer of The Honourable Society of the

."Officers of the Inn,"
Middle Temple website. Retrieved 13 January 2019.

Honours

On 8 April 1997, David Bean was appointed a

. As a High Court judge, he received the customary knighthood as 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 Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

and as a Lord Justice of Appeal he was appointed to the Privy Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bean, David Michael 1954 births Living people People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Queen's Bench Division judges Lord justices of appeal Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel English barristers Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Presidents of the Cambridge Union Chairs of the Fabian Society