John Cooper QC is a leading Criminal and Human Rights Barrister. In 2008 he was shortlisted as Human Rights Barrister of the Year by The Law Society, Liberty and Justice for his work representing bereaved families of Service Personnel who have died in the theatre of war. His leading work includes ground breaking cases such as Nimrod, Hercules, Deepcut and Puma military inquests. Has also represented the family of Gordon Gentle in the preparation of their inquest into the death of their son. 

His Criminal work includes some of the leading precedent cases of the last ten years, including; he has been involved in developing case law relating to murder, the legal defence of duress and the admissibility of expert evidence in Criminal trials.  This work has included being a member of Law Commission Working Parties on the reform of murder, manslaughter and infanticide as well as an influential Working Party on the presentation of expert evidence in Criminal trials.

He is Vice Chair of the Bar Council Public Affairs Committee and Editor of The Criminal Bar Quarterly and Consultant Editor of The Criminal Law and Justice Weekly Journal. In these roles he regularly speaks and writes on issues of legal importance including the pressing issues of public funding.
His wider writing career includes a number of plays and films produced on television and theatre from the BBC to The Royal Court Theatre in London.

John is a Visiting Professor of Law at Cardiff University and his latest book, Inquests with a foreword by the Lord Chief Justice was published in May 2011.

He is a regular contributor to many newspapers and publications including The Times and the Observer. His broadcasting career includes presenting a six-part documentary for Channel 4 on juvenile delinquency and a discussion programme for the BBC called Mindfield. He is referenced in Who’s Who, Debretts People of Today and the Chambers and Partners Guide to Leading Barristers. He has recently been appointed a Special Advisor to Labour’s Local Government & Communities Shadow Team.

Further details of his work can be found on his website www.john-cooper.info, and John can be found on twitter @John_Cooper_QC.

John practices from 25 Bedford Row, London.