The Ministry of Justice today announced the appointment of 116 new Queen's Counsel and 6 Honorary Queen's Counsel, which included Professor Christopher Forsyth.
Christopher (Robinson College) is Emeritus Sir David Williams Professor of Public Law. He is a leading international scholar in the fields of Administrative Law and Private International Law. His publications include Private International Law (1981), Judicial Review and the Constitution (2000) (as editor), Private International Law (5th ed, 2012) and Administrative Law (11th ed, 2014) (co-authored with W Wade). He has a long record of effective involvement at the highest level in the administration of several important public bodies, in addition to his part-time practice as a barrister (now retired). Professor Forsyth's analysis of the law of judicial review has been influential and has been routinely relied upon by both Counsel and judges. His academic work has contributed to the question of how to square the sovereignty of Parliament with the judges’ power on judicial review of administrative action. It has also emphasised the justified priority of doctrine and principle in judicial reasoning.
Reacting to the announcement, Professor Forsyth said:
"I find this honour immensely cheering coming as it does at the end of such a sad year. Memories of the great scholars who influenced me and afterwards became friends come flooding in. The gentle Colin Turpin of Clare, who supervised my PhD, the towering Bill Wade of Caius who changed my life when he invited me to join him in the great project that is Administrative Law; the great comparativist Kurt Lipstein, also of Clare, who introduced me to the pan European roots of private international law; the incomparable David Williams who became my friend when he was Vice Chancellor and I was Proctor. All these were Cambridge men but I mention two others. John Laws, perhaps the most brilliant public lawyer of his generation, but my pupil master when I read for the bar and Ellison Kahn of the University of the Witwatersrand who demonstrated by his life the constructive role of the legal scholar in difficult political circumstances. All are present in my mind today and partake of my gratitude."
I find this honour immensely cheering coming as it does at the end of such a sad year. Memories of the great scholars who influenced me and afterwards became friends come flooding in. Christopher Forsyth
The rank of QC honoris causa is conferred by The Queen on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor to lawyers who have made a 'major contribution to the law of England and Wales outside practice in the courts'. Barristers and solicitors may be appointed as QCs in recognition of their excellence in advocacy. Since the late nineteenth century a small number of honorary QCs have also been appointed each year, often academic lawyers whose work has advanced the understanding of English law and influenced its development.
The awards ceremony presided over by the Lord Chancellor would usually take place in March 2021, but given the current global pandemic the ceremony will take place at a later date.