Michael Fordham (judge)

Not to be confused with Michael Fordham, the English psychiatrist and analyst.
The Honourable
Mr Justice Fordham
Fordham in 2022
High Court Judge
King's Bench Division
Incumbent
Assumed office
2020[1]
MonarchsElizabeth II
Charles III
Personal details
Born (1964-12-21) 21 December 1964 (age 60)[2]
Alma materHertford College, Oxford[3]

Sir Michael John Fordham, (born 21 December 1964), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Fordham, is a judge of the High Court of England and Wales assigned to the King's Bench Division.[1][2][4] He was appointed as a Justice of the High Court on 13 January 2020.[1]

Education

Fordham was educated at Spalding Grammar School between 1976 and 1983.[5] He went on to study law at Hertford College, Oxford having been awarded a place through the Tanner Scheme. After achieving a First class degree, he stayed on at Oxford until 1987 to undertake a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL).[3] In 1988 he obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) at the University of Virginia.[6][3]

Career

Fordham was called to the bar in 1990 by Gray's Inn,[5] and by 2006 had been appointed a Queen's Counsel.[3] Four years later he became a Civil Recorder, and in 2012, a Criminal Recorder.[1] He was appointed Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal, sitting for six years until 2018. He was authorised under s9(1) to sit as a Deputy High Court Judge in 2013.[7]

During his career as a barrister spanning 1990 to 2020, he specialised (inter alia) in public law, administrative law, immigration and asylum, health and human rights,[8] arguing more than 50 cases in the Administrative Court,[9] the House of Lords and the Supreme Court.[10]

Fordham is a Bencher of Gray's Inn where he formerly served as Master of Students.[11]

Cases argued

The following are among the cases argued by Fordham during his career as a barrister:

Author

As a legal practitioner specialising in judicial review,[19] Fordham has authored seven editions of his Judicial Review Handbook.[20][21] In the foreword to the 5th Edition, Lord Woolf paid tribute to the author, saying that the handbook was "an institution for those who practise public law".[22]

Bibliography

  • Fordham, Michael (1994). Judicial Review Handbook (1st ed.). Wiley Chancery Law Pub. ISBN 9780471950288.
  • Fordham, Michael (1997). Judicial Review Handbook (2nd ed.). Wiley Chancery Law Pub. ISBN 9780471970224.
  • Fordham, Michael (2001). Judicial Review Handbook (3rd ed.). Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781841132389.
  • Fordham, Michael (2004). Judicial Review Handbook (4th ed.). Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781841134390.
  • Fordham, Michael (2008). Judicial Review Handbook (5th ed.). Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781841138244.
  • Fordham, Michael (2012). Judicial Review Handbook (6th ed.). Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781849461597.
  • Fordham, The Hon Sir Michael (2021). Judicial Review Handbook (7th ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781509922833.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "High Court Judge Appointment". judiciary.uk. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Judges". judiciary.uk. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Alumnus Michael Fordham appointed High Court Judge". hertford.ox.ac.uk. Hertford College. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Senior Judiciary". judiciary.uk. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Winston (16 December 2019). "Ex-Spalding Grammar School student appointed as High Court judge after 'open competition' process". Spalding Today. Lincolnshire. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Michael Fordham (Law '88)". alumni.virginia.edu. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Blackstone Chambers public law silk appointed High Court judge". Public Law Today. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Blackstone Chambers - Michael Fordham QC". legal500.com. The Legal 500. 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  9. ^ Dodd, Ian (29 November 2015). "Administrative Court Division Winners Announced". premonition.ai. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  10. ^ "High Court Judge delivers special Chapel message". rydalpenrhos.com. Rydal Penrhos School. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  11. ^ master. "Masters of the Bench". graysinn.org.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  12. ^ "Judgment - R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant)v The Prime Minister (Respondent) Cherry and others (Respondents) v Advocate General for Scotland (Appellant) (Scotland)" (PDF). supremecourt.uk. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Lauzika, R (On the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018]". Casemine. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZAT & Ors" (PDF). judiciary.uk. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2021. On behalf of the respondents, Mr Fordham QC accepted that adherence to the Dublin processes and procedures had a high value...
  15. ^ Pinochet, In re [1999] UKHL 1 (AC), [2000] 1 AC 119, [1999] 1 All ER 577, [1999] 2 WLR 272 (15 January 1999), House of Lords (UK)
  16. ^ "Keyu & Others and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs & Anr" (PDF). judiciary.uk. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2021. On behalf of the appellants, Mr Michael Fordham QC submits that the ECtHR would now conclude that the Secretaries of State's refusal to establish a public inquiry constitutes a breach of the article 2 procedural obligation and that we should foreclose the need for the appellants to apply to the ECtHR by reaching the same conclusion, having had due regard to the decision of the Grand Chamber in Janowiec, pursuant to our duty under section 2 of the Human Rights Act.
  17. ^ "R (on the application of Andrew Michael March) v Secretary of State for Health". Blackstone Chambers. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  18. ^ Al Fayed, R (on the application of) v Parliamentary Commissioner For Standards [1997] EWCA Civ 2488, [1998] WLR 669, [1998] 1 All ER 93, [1997] EWCA Civ 2488, [1998] 1 WLR 669 (15 October 1997), Court of Appeal (England and Wales)
  19. ^ "Michael Fordham - The Times Law Panel". The Times. London. 8 July 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  20. ^ "High Court Judges 2019". Judicial Appointments Commission. 2019. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Judicial Review Handbook". Hart Publishing. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2021. ... the seventh edition approximates to a restatement of the law of judicial review...
  22. ^ The Hon Sir The Hon Sir Michael Fordham (4 February 2021). Judicial Review Handbook. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-5099-2283-3. Retrieved 8 July 2021. ...an institution for those who practise public law...it has the authority that comes from being compiled by an author of singular distinction. (Lord Woolf, from the Foreword to the Fifth Edition).