Masters of the Bench

Joel Bennathan was educated at Bristol Grammar School and read law at Queen Mary College, London. He was a tenant in Tooks Court, then Doughty Street Chambers and became a QC in 2006. The first lawyer in his family, Joel worked predominantly at the criminal bar for 35 years, mainly defending in trials and mounting appeals to the Court of Appeal, House of Lords then Supreme Court, Privy Council and the European Court of Human Rights. Highlights of his practice included challenging the use of hearsay in Strasbourg, various reassertions of the need for strict obedience to the rules of criminal litigation in the House of Lords and Privy Council, and the ultimately successful defence of Afghans fleeing the Taleban in a hijack case which took him to the Old Bailey, Kabul and the Court of Appeal. He wrote and contributed to books on criminal appeals and was a visiting Professor at London South Bank University. He and his wife have 6 children. Joel lives in North London, with family in London, Israel and the USA. In January 2022 he was appointed to the High Court where he sits in the Queen’s Bench Division.