Fake Law by The Secret Barrister, a review

Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies by The Secret Barrister, is the second book by this anonymous author I’ve read (the self titled The Secret Barrister being the first). A non-fiction title, by a currently serving British Barrister, explaining in more depth the truth behind those astonishing sounding news articles.

Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies, by The Secret Barrister

We see so many news articles, especially since the prominence of social media, announcing that the state has stopped deportation of a terrorist because he owns a cat, and that they refused to treat your dying baby. But what is the legal truth behind these inflammatory headlines? Surprising few of you, they don’t tell the full truth. They barely tell any truth at all.

This book was fantastic, if anger inducing. Secret Barrister (SB) touches on so many points that the right wing fanatics have attempted to weaponise to further their own aims. SB breaks these down and instead shows the truth of these events. The terrorist with a cat? The cat was mentioned in passing as showing their deep roots, with a partner and a house, in Britain. And they weren’t even a terrorist. The refusal to treat a dying baby? That’s because there were no available treatments left, and it is usual to confirm that with a court order. The media just saw that as clickbait and ran with it.

With so much of the British Justice system rooted in Royal courts and approvals, it was odd to be reading this over the dates of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, with the mention of the Queens Courts, which are of course now the Kings. Something that most likely won’t bother anyone not British/in the Commonwealth, but just a little jarring to read on the day of her death and the days afterwards.

SB does a fantastic job a breaking down the law into something that regular civilians can comprehend, with citations added for those who wish to look into things in more detail. With his unique position of anonymity (he mentions his gender near the end of this book) it means that he can provide insight into how our courts are currently operating without having to pander to anyone.

I was already sceptical of these clickbait articles that we see everywhere on social media and in headlines, but Fake Law has solidified that scepticism. These articles always, either on purpose or through lack of legal knowledge from the reporters, miss out vital information that completely change the perspective.

SB uses some very high profile cases in his examples (Baby P and Jamie Bulger for example) which had a large amount of misinformation around them in the media. With these, and the other cases used (anonymised unless already in the public eye) the book is incredibly interesting. Learning more about these cases that I’ve been brought up with and have seen time and again on the news. But also just seeing how the British Justice system actually functions. Something that common folk don’t usually get to see.

On CAWPILE I rated this: Research: 9, Uniqueness: 9, Readability: 9, Personal Impact: 8, Intrigue: 9, Informativeness: 9, and Enjoyment: 9, giving an average of 8.86 and a 4.5* rating.

Highlight here for trigger warnings: misappropriation of the law, discussions of child death, child abuse, sexual assault, incarceration.

This is an absolutely fascinating book. Of course for those interested in legal proceedings around the world, but also for those who want to know just how badly the media manipulate information surrounding high profile cases. I’m very glad that I picked this up and I’m definitely going to be picking up any other books SB has or will publish.

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