An anonymous barrister writes a powerfully honest, provocative and moving first-hand account of life in the legal system and how it's failing us all
Introduction - i: Introduction: My Opening Speech Chapter - 1: Welcome to the Criminal Courtroom Chapter - 2: The Wild West: The Magistrates’ Court Chapter - 3: Imprisoning the Innocent: Remand and Bail Chapter - 4: Watching the Guilty Walk Free: Prosecuting on the Cheap Chapter - 5: The Devil’s Greatest Trick: Putting the Victim First Chapter - 6: Defenceless and Indefensible Chapter - 7: Legal Aid Myths and the Innocence Tax Chapter - 8: Trial on Trial: Part I – The Case Against Chapter - 9: Trial on Trial: Part II – The Case for the Defence Chapter - 10: The Big Sentencing Con Chapter - 11: The Courage of Our Convictions: Appeal Chapter - 12: My Closing Speech
The Secret Barrister is a junior barrister specialising in criminal
law. The Secret Barrister writes for Solicitors Journal, New
Statesman and INews and has written pieces in the Sun, the Mirror
and Huffington Post.
In 2016 and 2017, the Secret Barrister was named Independent
Blogger of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards.
By turns eye-opening, damning and hilarious, the secret barrister
lifts the lid on a legal system where the system, the politicians,
the lack of funding and sometimes the judges are the real villains
and the victims are all of us
*Tim Shipman, author of Fall Out and All Out War*
The Secret Barrister can write...everyone who has any interest in
public life should read it...this is a book of some brilliance,
clearly explained, cogently argued
*Daily Mail*
Takes the reader deep into the bowels of the criminal justice
system...the message of this entertaining book is delivered with
great skill...the book is at once a lament and a celebration...the
justice system as not just for criminals and victims but for all of
us - it is the symbol of our nation's humanity
*The Times*
Terrifying and occasionally hilarious... this is an eye-opening, if
depressing, account of the practice of law today. Perhaps there is
hope, but the author leaves us in no doubt that urgent reform is
needed
*The Observer*
This excellent book will hopefully raise awareness of what has
been, until now, a silent crisis. It is at once a vicious polemic,
a helpful primer and a cringe-inducing account of one barrister's
travails
*Daily Telegraph*
A sensation beyond lawyers’ circles. The Secret Barrister is an
anguished, detailed polemic by an anonymous current practitioner
about how dangerously flawed, fragile and underfunded our famed
legal system has become . . . an SOS, a desperate and cogent call
for action and resources before the justice system, and our faith
in it, collapses . . . I hope the arguments . . . will resonate
widely – and that the government will act on them before it is too
late.
*Sunday Times*
The unfolding calamity in our criminal justice system is best told
in The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken.
This angry yet forensic analysis from first arrest to prison is a
gripping front-line view by an anonymous, lowly criminal barrister.
Read and rage at evidence that “every day the provably guilty walk
free”, while the hapless needlessly end up in jail.
*Guardian*
Fluently and engagingly written...a copy of this book should be
placed on the desk of every judge, every trainee lawyer, every
would-be lawyer, every politician, and every minister responsible
for the legal system
*The Literary Review*
An illuminating and timely insight into the legal system,
transforming arcane practice into accessible and fascinating
anecdote
*Sunday Express*
If you have not already met The Secret Barrister, he or she makes
an entertaining and acerbic holiday companion for those who don’t
switch off their brains in summer
*Guardian, Best Summer Books 2018*
Behold, the book that got me through jury service! A timely and
accessible look at today's UK court system, this is a no nonsense
explainer on how things work, very much don't work, and how we got
here. Who knew that educating yourself about, for example, the
history of magistrates, could be so much fun?
*Alexandra Heminsley, The Pool*
Funny, frightening, frequently infuriating but above all profoundly
human. As a sensitive and knowledgeable storyteller, the Secret
Barrister does for lawyers what James Herriot did for vets
*James O'Brien*
Funny, angry, mordant, social satire, reform manifesto – The Secret
Barrister offers them all in this legal tour de force. Told through
often heart-rending stories of victims and victors in a game of
legal roulette, a quest for decency and proper standards of legal
service shines through the bleakness. If the Secret Barrister has
her or his way, it might happen a bit more often. Read this book,
hope and pray
*Andrew Adonis*
Its stories of how the law often fails those whom it is meant to
protect – how do barristers feel when someone they believe to be
innocent gets banged up for five years? – make for gripping
reading.
*The Guardian*
Stories of The Law and How It's Broken is mordantly clear,
chillingly well-observed and terrifyingly funny. I have rarely read
a book that filled me with greater fury. Read this, give it to
friends, share the Secret Barrister's testimony with strangers -
it's a rare and righteous thing
*A.L.Kennedy, Booker-listed author of Serious
Sweet*
Dishes the dirt — or serves up a slice of reality — on what
barristers do
*The Times*
What’s so powerful about The Secret Barrister is its ability to
connect the dots...revealing a picture that is more a commentary on
society as a whole than it is on robing rooms full of horsehair
wigs
*Guardian*
An expert and eloquent account of much that has gone wrong with our
criminal law procedures: this book is accurate, informative and
sensibly points the way to pragmatic reforms
*Geoffrey Robertson QC, author of The Justice
Game*
I suggest that the Leader of the House and all members of the
Government read the book by the Secret Barrister
*Valerie Vaz, MP, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons*
Wickedly funny and deadly serious, this brilliant book is an
essential read for anyone who cares about justice, fairness and
equality before the law. If you felt these things were safe, the
Secret Barrister will leave you stunned and aghast at a criminal
justice system absolutely broken by cuts across the board,
frequently dishing out a travesty of justice. Impassioned, searing
and utterly compelling
*Rachel Clarke, author of Your Life in My Hands*
A brilliant but deeply disturbing book. Using the legal cases of
real people, it shows how our criminal justice system is so broken,
the innocent end up behind bars while the guilty walk free
*Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion and Co-leader of
the Green Party*
‘Follow[s] the life of a criminal trial, from charge through to
appeal, dispelling myths, righting wrongs and telling anecdotes . .
. The book is impeccably researched, and the arguments are backed
to the nines with statistics and worked examples. Laid out calmly,
the facts do what facts should do, but often don’t: they clarify
and convince. The Secret Barrister’s book is a call to arms: a
desperate, last-ditch attempt to open the eyes of those outside the
profession to the injustices which exist within our justice system.
Yet it remains an optimistic book, offering answers and solutions .
. . this immensely impressive volume manages to make a subject that
is bleak and dry utterly compelling . . . The Secret Barrister
describes this system as a ‘sausage factory’ of justice. No one
wants to see how the sausage gets made – but we all should.’
*Spectator*
Powerful points are expressed in a funny but penetrating way: the
barrister weaves personal experience with his or her most memorable
cases and clients...after you’ve chuckled to yourself, it forces
you to reflect on its real meaning
*Prospect Magazine*
I've read an absolutely amazing, gripping book by The Secret
Barrister...it's a bestselling book which is spread, I think, by
word of mouth, about their experiences as a criminal barrister...I
found it incredibly informative, a must read
*Ed Miliband, Reasons to be Cheerful podcast*
The blogger's much-anticipated book is a rallying cry against short
sighted governments and an apathetic public...With clarity and
eloquence the dozen angry, passionate, frustrated chapters shout
their unanimous and damning verdict on a system “close to breaking
point”...the book certainly deserves a wider audience
*The Brief, The Times*
Essential reading for those in, and outside, the law
*The Criminal Bar Association*
One of the legal blogosphere's hottest properties
*The Times on The Secret Barrister Blog*
Completely riveting . . . it reveals the good and bad in human
beings
*The Bookseller - One to Watch*
Indispensable
*Dominic Lawson, Sunday Times - on The Secret Barrister Blog*
The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How it’s Broken is an
eye-opening, funny and horrifying look at the criminal justice
system, perfect for reading sections out and disrupting the lives
of those around you who are “just trying to have a nice time”.
*Guardian, Best summer books 2018*
The Secret Barrister says we should be outraged at the state of our
criminal justice system, which has been devastated by legal aid
cuts and is staffed by demoralised and underpaid barristers. When
justice is under threat, it is bad news for everyone.
*The Times, The best nonfiction to read on holiday this summer*
This insider’s account of a malfunctioning legal system close to
breaking point would be funny if it weren’t so frightening.
*Daily Mail*
A very good book for anyone who has an interest in the machinations
and history of the British criminal justice system, and even if you
don’t it is still highly interesting. A great factual history but
presented in an easy to understand style that allows scrutiny of
every nook and cranny of the subject. Both enlightening and
entertaining, and what more could you want from a book?
*Inside Time*
The Secret Barrister is published at a time of turmoil for the
English justice system . . . it is a broadside against a justice
system of pervasive inefficiencies; unrelenting adjournments;
beleaguered lawyers and court users treated with a carelessness
tantamount to contempt . . . but with humility and compassion, this
book helps us to see why the rights of those whom we love to hate
are sacred. A panoptic account of its subject, measured and
forensic throughout, The Secret Barrister is the signal in a world
of noise on justice matters and – it is hoped – a spur to
action
*Scottish Legal News*
This is a campaigning book, written by a true advocate, and thanks
to an initiative by the Criminal Bar Association, every MP has
received a free copy. They need to read it and take action.
*LRB*
Both shocking and moving, but most of all I found in it a burning
desire to make our justice system work properly for everyone.
*Daniel Zeichner MP*
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