An anonymous barrister offers a shocking, darkly comic and very moving journey through the legal system - and explains how it's failing all of us.

The Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award.
Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year.
Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or - perhaps through no fault of your own - a defendant. Whatever your role, you'd expect a fair trial.

I'm a barrister. I work in the criminal justice system, and every day I see how fairness is not guaranteed. Too often the system fails those it is meant to protect. The innocent are wronged and the guilty allowed to walk free.

In The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it's too late.

A Sunday Times top ten bestseller for twenty-four weeks.
'Eye-opening, funny and horrifying' - Observer
'Everyone who has any interest in public life should read it' - Daily Mail

An anonymous barrister offers a shocking, darkly comic and very moving journey through the legal system - and explains how it's failing all of us.

About the Author

The Secret Barrister is a junior barrister specializing in criminal law, and the author of the award-winning blog. The Secret Barrister writes for The Times, the Guardian, New Statesman, iNews, Esquire, Counsel magazine and Solicitors Journal, and has appeared 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. In 2018, the Secret Barrister was named Legal Personality of The Year at the Law Society Awards. Their first book, The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken, was a Sunday Times top-ten hardback bestseller for twenty-four consecutive weeks.

Reviews
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
Dishes the dirt - or serves up a slice of reality - on what barristers do * The Times *
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 *
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 -- Afua Hirsch * Guardian *
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 *
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
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 *
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. -- John Crace * The 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 *
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
An illuminating and timely insight into the legal system, transforming arcane practice into accessible and fascinating anecdote * Sunday Express *
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 *
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
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
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 *


Awards
Winner of Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2018 (UK). Short-listed for National Book Awards Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2018 (UK) and Waterstones Book Of The Year 2018 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781509841141
Author The Secret Barrister
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Picador
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Weight(grams) 275g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 130mm * 31mm