Alex Davidson
- CPS General Crime Panel Level 3
- CPS Serious Crime Panel Level 3
- CPS Specialist Fraud Panel Level 3
- CPS Specialist POCA Panel Level 3
- Attorney General’s C Panel
- List of Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health and Safety and Environmental Law (List C)
Books
- Criminal Investigatory Powers (OUP, forthcoming).
- “Unlawful Interception of Communications” in Blackstone’s Criminal Practice (OUP, 2018).
- Insider Dealing: Law and Practice (OUP, 2020) (legal researcher).
Articles
- “Extraterritoriality and Statutory Interpretation: The Increasing Reach of Investigative Powers” (2020) 1 Public Law 1.
- “Human Rights Protection Before the International Criminal Court: Assessing the Scope and Application of Article 21(3) of the Rome Statute” (2016) 18(1) International Community Law Review 72.
Case Commentaries
- Mints v PJSC National Bank Trust [2024] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 443 (sanctions).
- SFO v Ames [2024] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 1 (Brown directions).
- R v Wood [2023] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 19 (reconsideration of confiscation orders).
- Fresh View Swift Properties v Westminster Magistrates’ Court [2023] Criminal Law Review 509 (account forfeiture orders).
- R v Laskowski [2023] Criminal Law Review 594 (cross border offences).
- R v Stewart [2022] Criminal Law Review 1001 (whole life orders).
- Macmillan Cancer Support v Toogood [2022] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 463 (private prosecutions).
- R v Waring [2022] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 102 (tainted gifts).
- Serious Fraud Office v Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd [2021] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 353 (deferred prosecution agreements).
- R (on the application of KBR) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (Supreme Court) [2021] Criminal Law Review 494 (extraterritoriality).
- National Crime Agency v Baker [2020] Criminal Law Review 976 (unexplained wealth orders).
- R v Varley [2020] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 281 (fraud by false representation).
- Serious Fraud Office v Barclays [2020] Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime 319 (corporate criminal liability).
- R (on the application of BBC) v Newcastle Crown Court [2020] Criminal Law Review 243 (production orders).
- R (on the application of KBR) v Director of the Serious Fraud Office (Divisional Court) [2019] Criminal Law Review 50 (extraterritoriality).
- Business Energy Solutions Ltd v Preston Crown Court [2018] Criminal Law Review 860 (data seizure).
- R v Jogee (2016) UKSC Blog (joint enterprise liability).
- Young Fraud Lawyers Association
- Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum
- BPTC (Outstanding), City Law School
- LLB (Hons), Queen Mary University of London
- British Academy of Forensic Sciences Prize for the highest BPTC mark in Advanced Criminal Litigation, City Law School (2021)
- John RWD Jones QC Extradition Essay Competition Winner (2020)
- Buchanan Prize, Lincoln’s Inn (2020)
- Sir Louis Gluckstein Advocacy Prize, Lincoln’s Inn (2019)
- Lord Denning Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn (2018)
- Hardwicke Entrance Award, Lincoln’s Inn (2016)
- “Alex has a tremendously sharp legal mind, is charming and confident on his feet, and extremely hard-working. He is a star of the criminal bar in the making.” Legal 500 (2025)
Instructing Alex Davidson
To instruct Alex or for any further information please contact our clerks on +44 (0)20 7440 8888 or clerks@2br.co.uk.
Alex’s practice primarily encompasses general crime, financial crime, and proceeds of crime work. In addition to being an accomplished criminal advocate, Alex has expertise in advising on and providing representation in civil and public law proceedings.
Alongside his practice, Alex contributes to Blackstone’s Criminal Practice and regularly authors articles and case commentaries. This gives him a breadth of knowledge in criminal law, public law, and other areas in which he practises. His advisory work has also included being appointed as junior counsel to the Home Office’s Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences and as a legal adviser to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on War Crimes.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Alex was a lawyer at the Law Commission of England and Wales. He worked on several projects including the Law Commission’s reviews of official secrets legislation (implemented through the National Security Act 2023) and sentencing law (implemented through the Sentencing Act 2020).
Practice Areas
Alex advises and represents individuals, corporates, and prosecution agencies in all manner of criminal proceedings. He has experience across the spectrum of criminal offences, including murder, serious violence, fraud and financial crime, drug offences, and sexual offences. Alex is able to take a case through from investigation to trial and appeal.
Notable cases include:
- Represented a young adult acquitted of murder in connection with the robbery of a cannabis farm (led by Stan Reiz KC).
- Represented Wayne Couzens in the Court of Appeal on charges of the murder, rape, and false imprisonment of Sarah Everard (led by Jim Sturman KC).
- Represented a man acquitted of conspiracy to import 15 tonnes of cocaine and transferring criminal property, and who was the only defendant of the seven on trial acquitted of all counts (led by Craig Rush).
- Represented a man acquitted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon (sole counsel).
- Prosecuted a company for corporate manslaughter and its shadow director for gross negligence manslaughter, both of whom were convicted of the manslaughter offences which they faced (led by Christine Agnew KC).
- Represented a law enforcement agency investigating a foreign individual linked to over 100 deaths in the United Kingdom through the online supply of poison.
Alex advises and represents individuals, corporates, and prosecuting authorities in a broad range of fraud and financial crime matters. He has been instructed in cases involving the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, National Crime Agency, HMRC, NHS Counter Fraud Authority, and other specialist fraud prosecution units.
Cases of note in which Alex has been instructed include representing a public figure in one of the UK’s largest money laundering investigations (Operation Brightly) and representing the CEO of a listed company for fraudulent trading (Operation Gillingham).
Alex spent time seconded to the National Crime Agency where he advised the agency in relation to complex, multi-jurisdictional, and high-profile financial crime investigations. He continues to act in highly sensitive financial crime cases for the Agency.
Alex’s expertise in fraud and financial crime led to his appointment as junior counsel to the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences. Prior to coming to the Bar, Alex contributed to numerous financial crime-related law reform projects as a lawyer at the Law Commission. He regularly writes case reports for the Criminal Law Review and Lloyd’s Law Reports: Financial Crime, with recent topics including fraud offences, corporate criminal liability, private prosecutions, confiscation, unexplained wealth orders, deferred prosecution agreements, and investigatory powers. He also provided legal research and writing for Insider Dealing: Law and Practice, published by Oxford University Press.
Alex provides advice and representation at all stages of confiscation proceedings, as well as in relation to associated property detention and restraint matters under Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He is frequently instructed in confiscation cases which feature complex factual and legal issues.
Alex has a detailed knowledge of the confiscation regime from working on the Law Commission’s confiscation project. He regularly produces case reports and commentary on confiscation cases.
Alex has expertise in advising and representing persons across the complete range of civil recovery matters. He has experience in both summary (cash, account, cryptoasset, and listed assets) and High Court civil recovery proceedings. His cases include:
- Representing a businessman who successfully discharged multiple account freezing orders following the receipt of over £64 million into several bank accounts.
- Representing the National Crime Agency as sole counsel in one of the first cryptoasset forfeiture orders granted by the courts over cryptocurrency valued at approximately £2 million.
- R (NCA) v Westminster Magistrates’ Court [2022] EWHC 2631 (Admin) – representing the National Crime Agency as junior counsel in judicial review proceedings concerning account freezing orders relating to a sanctioned Russian businessman. The case concluded with the first ever order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for the forfeiture of funds relating to sanctions circumvention.
- Representing the National Crime Agency in High Court proceedings concerning property valued at over £80 million.
Alex spent time on secondment to the National Crime Agency where he advised the agency on the full range civil recovery matters, including High Court civil recovery orders, property freezing orders, account freezing and forfeiture orders, unexplained wealth orders, and investigatory powers. Alex has also written case reports and legal commentaries on civil recovery powers.
Alex accepts instructions relating to extradition and mutual legal assistance. He often advises and represents clients in relation to mutual legal assistance requests.
Alex spent many years providing case law and legislation updates to the extradition section of Blackstone’s Criminal Practice. In 2020, he won the John RWD Jones QC Extradition Essay Competition with an essay examining the human rights issues that arise in the context of extradition requests from category 2 territories.
Alex has experience in both bringing and defending in judicial review proceedings.
His cases include R (NCA) v Westminster Magistrates’ Court [2022] EWHC 2631 (Admin), in which he appeared as junior counsel in judicial review proceedings concerning account freezing orders relating to a sanctioned Russian businessman.
Alex has represented clients in high-profile public inquiries.
He acted for the Cabinet Office in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and for Post Office Ltd in the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Alex accepts instructions in inquests. His recent cases include acting for Bupa UK in several inquests into the deaths of patients treated by the breast cancer surgeon Ian Paterson.
Alex is regularly instructed in relation to financial and other sanctions.
Whilst seconded to the National Crime Agency he advised on and provided representation in proceedings involving domestic and international sanctions regimes, including acting in the first ever order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for the forfeiture of funds relating to sanctions circumvention.
