Prof Rudi Fortson

Personal Statement

Rudi Fortson KC has been an independent practising Barrister since 1976 (‘taking silk’ in 2010). He was appointed an Honorary Visiting Professor of Law at the SLSJ, University of Liverpool, in 2022. He is also a Visiting Professor of Law, at Queen Mary University of London.

Rudi is noted for his work in relation to serious crime, including fraud, confiscation, asset-recovery, money-laundering, and drug law. Among other publications, he is the author of ‘Misuse of Drugs and Drug Trafficking Offences’ (Sweet & Maxwell, 6th ed., 2012), and ‘The Serious Crime Act 2007’ (OUP, 2008). He is a contributing author to Blackstone’s Criminal Practice (two chapters, ‘Weapons’, ‘Drug Offences’), and he regularly writes for Criminal Law Review.

Rudi served on the Police Foundation ‘Independent Inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971’, and he was a member of the Criminal Justice Forum for the Institute for Public Policy Research (Report: ‘Them and Us’).

Rudi was a consultant to the Law Commission for England and Wales in respect of its firearms project (2015); its Anti-Money Laundering project (2018-2019); and its recent project ‘Confiscation under Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002’ (September 2020 to current).

Rudi is a Friend of the Academy of European Law (ERA), Trier, Germany, and he is a member of the Criminal Bar Association (England and Wales), the Forensic Science Society (Great Britain), the British Academy of Forensic Science, the Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association, and the Financial Services Lawyers Association.