Sir Brian Henry Leveson (born 22 June 1949 in Liverpool, England) is a distinguished English jurist and retired senior judge. Educated at Liverpool College and Merton College, Oxford, he was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1970 and practiced as a barrister specializing in criminal law, becoming Queen's Counsel in 1986. Appointed a High Court Judge in 1995, he served in the Queen's Bench Division and was elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2000. Knighted in 2006, he served as Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales from 2006 to 2010. Leveson is most renowned for chairing the Leveson Inquiry (2011-2012) into media ethics, unlawful information gathering, and relationships between press, police, and politicians following the News International phone hacking scandal. From 2013 to 2020, he served as President of the Queen's Bench Division and Head of Criminal Justice. After retiring from the bench in 2020, he was appointed Investigatory Powers Commissioner, overseeing lawful use of surveillance powers by intelligence agencies and law enforcement.