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Rudi Fortson KC is an independent practising Barrister since 1976, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Queen Mary, University of London. He took silk in 2010.  In 2022, he was appointed an Honorary Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Liverpool.  He is regulated by the Bar Standards Board.  [Note that Rudi Fortson KC does not offer professional services under the ‘direct access’ scheme.   Any professional enquiries and instructions must be received via his chambers at 25 Bedford Row, London (which operates a regulated complaints procedure  [link])].    

Fortson is noted for his work in relation to serious crime, including fraud, confiscation, asset-recovery, money-laundering, drug law, and AI-Crim.  He has written and lectured extensively on a wide range of issues relating to the criminal law (as it applies in the UK and in the EU).  Among other publications, he is a contributing author (two chapters) to Blackstone’s Criminal Practice, and he regularly writes for Criminal Law Review.

Fortson served on the “Runciman” Independent Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act, and he was a member of the Criminal Justice Forum for the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Fortson has attended ‘experts meetings’ at the European Commission in Brussels. His work on behalf of the Bar Council of England and Wales in relation to Justice and Home Affairs Issues at EU Level forms part of written evidence that is appended to the Third Report (Session 2006-07) of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee.

Fortson was a member of a “Task Force” jointly set up by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) on the Future of EU, UK and US Cooperation in Criminal Justice and Police Cooperation (see its 2018 Report on the potential implications of ‘Brexit’ [Link])  As part of a 3 day colloquium ‘SIGINT Intelligence Transnational Activities and National Security in France and Europe: Transnationalisation, Oversight and the Role of Courts’ (Paris, 26 Sept 2018), Fortson spoke on the issue ‘Interrogating the Right to Privacy and the Limits of Surveillance’. 

Fortson spoke in Paris (May 2019) on the question “Brexit and Criminal Justice: Will pragmatism prevail over politics?[Link]

For a copy of the EU/UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: see [Link]
For a copy of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 (as originally enacted): see [Link]

Rudi Fortson was a consultant to the Law Commission for England and Wales in respect of its firearms project [link]; its Anti-Money Laundering project (2018-2019) [link]; and, recently (September 2020 to current) its reform of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 confiscation regime after conviction [Link].  For a copy of the Law Commission Report entitled “Anti-money laundering: the SARs regime” see  [Link].   For a copy of the Law Commission Consultation Paper (No.249) “Confiscation of the proceeds of crime after conviction: a consultation paper” see [Link].  The FINAL REPORT was published on 9th November 2022 (Law Com No.410) [Link].

Rudi Fortson was a participant at the Academy of European Law (ERA) Conference on “Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Services in the EU” (Trier, Germany, 15th-16th November 2018) and at the ERA 2021 “Annual Conference on Financial Compliance in the EU” (4th-5th November 2021).

Rudi Fortson has participated in many events on behalf of Queen Mary University of London including, at Renmin University, Beijing (2015; Bribery and Corruption), at Cape Town University (2016; transnational crime), and in Toronto (2017).  He delivered the keynote address at the Fourth Queen Mary-Renmin Criminal Justice Conference (Transnational Crime, London, December 2016).  He spoke to a paper entitled English law and Cybercrime” at the Renmin Conference (Beijing, 13th-14th October 2017). 

More recently, Fortson spoke at the “Conference on the EU Law in the Digital Age“, Uppsala, Sweden (Swedish Network for European Legal Studies, June 2022).  He is a workgroup participant in respect of the FNR CORE research project “Criminal Proceedings and the Use of AI: Challenges for Common Criminal Procedure Principles and the Principles of the Rule of Law” (or “CRIM_AI”) organised by the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF), University of Luxembourg [Link].

Rudi Fortson is a member of the Criminal Bar Association (England and Wales), the Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association; the Financial Services Lawyers Association; the Forensic Science Society (Great Britain), the British Academy of Forensic Science; and Drug Science. 

For Fortson’s detailed commentary on Ivey v Genting Casinos, see “Making Dishonesty Fit the Crime” (2018, SSRN Library).[Link]

For summaries of certain judicial decisions, and alerts, see the “Legal Developments” menu.