The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
This is one I've wanted to read for a while (pretty much ever since it came out), so when I saw it was available at the library, I jumped at the chance to read it next.
From the criminals to the lawyers, the victims, witnesses and officers of the law, here is the best and worst of humanity, all struggling within a broken system which would never be off the front pages if the public knew what it was really like. Both a searing first-hand account of the human cost of the criminal justice system, and a guide to how we got into this mess, The Secret Barrister wants to show you what it’s really like and why it really matters.
The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken starts in the courtroom. We get a snapshot of the law in action, as The Secret Barrister talks us through the basics of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. After a chapter on the courtroom, and a damning chapter on the Magistrates' Court, they move onto bail - often a controversial topic in the media. The next few chapters focus a little less on explanation and a little more on argument, as we move onto prosecution errors, the treatment of victims, and the worrying minority of solicitors who do not do their job as they should. It is impossible to please everybody, and I personally found this first half a little dull, since it repeated a lot of information I already knew, albeit with an appreciated sprinkle of real-life anecdotes.
The second half, however, was a completely different story. There was a chapter on legal aid, which is something I knew little about; two chapters on the pros and cons of our adversarial system, which I hadn't really considered before; an enlightening chapter on sentencing (often an obsession with the media), and another on appeals; and a concluding chapter which suggests why society has so little interest in our legal system (compare our concern over the NHS), and what we can do about it. I found myself, while reading this second half, constantly wanting to share what I was learning with someone - always a good sign.
I don't really believe in 'books everyone should read', because I firmly believe everyone should read exactly what they want to, but if I were to compile such a list, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken would be on it.
Now I just have to wait for Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies to become available at the library - if my experience with The Secret Barrister is anything to go by, it should only take two years.
From the criminals to the lawyers, the victims, witnesses and officers of the law, here is the best and worst of humanity, all struggling within a broken system which would never be off the front pages if the public knew what it was really like. Both a searing first-hand account of the human cost of the criminal justice system, and a guide to how we got into this mess, The Secret Barrister wants to show you what it’s really like and why it really matters.
The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken starts in the courtroom. We get a snapshot of the law in action, as The Secret Barrister talks us through the basics of the criminal justice system in England and Wales. After a chapter on the courtroom, and a damning chapter on the Magistrates' Court, they move onto bail - often a controversial topic in the media. The next few chapters focus a little less on explanation and a little more on argument, as we move onto prosecution errors, the treatment of victims, and the worrying minority of solicitors who do not do their job as they should. It is impossible to please everybody, and I personally found this first half a little dull, since it repeated a lot of information I already knew, albeit with an appreciated sprinkle of real-life anecdotes.
The second half, however, was a completely different story. There was a chapter on legal aid, which is something I knew little about; two chapters on the pros and cons of our adversarial system, which I hadn't really considered before; an enlightening chapter on sentencing (often an obsession with the media), and another on appeals; and a concluding chapter which suggests why society has so little interest in our legal system (compare our concern over the NHS), and what we can do about it. I found myself, while reading this second half, constantly wanting to share what I was learning with someone - always a good sign.
I don't really believe in 'books everyone should read', because I firmly believe everyone should read exactly what they want to, but if I were to compile such a list, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken would be on it.
Now I just have to wait for Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies to become available at the library - if my experience with The Secret Barrister is anything to go by, it should only take two years.
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