The Honourable Mr Justice Fordham
Fordham in 2022
High Court Judge King's Bench Division
Incumbent
Assumed office 2020[1]
Monarchs	Elizabeth II Charles III
Personal details
Born	(1964-12-21) 21 December 1964 (age 59)[2]
Alma mater	Hertford 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]

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]

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]

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

• R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland^[12]
• Lauzika, R (On the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 1045 (Admin)^[13]
• Secretary of State for the Home Department v ZAT and Ors [2016] EWCA Civ 810^[14]
• Pinochet, In re [1999] UKHL 1; [2000] 1 AC 119; [1999] 1 All ER 577; [1999] 2 WLR 272^[15]
• Keyu & Others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs & Anr [2014] EWCA Civ 312^[16]
• R (March) v Secretary of State for Health [2010] EWHC 765 (Admin)^[17]
• R v Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, ex p Al-Fayed [1998]^[18]

As a legal practitioner specialising in judicial review,^[19] Fordham has authored no less than 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]

• 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.