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mrbrownsays's review against another edition
3.0
A polemic, and one I mostly agree with. I think the 'everyone is against me' narrative was a bit strong actually.
robert891201's review against another edition
challenging
informative
sad
4.0
It was very informative, and eye opening.
isr's review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
++informative
+accessible; example cases and explanations with cited notes
---we're doomed
+accessible; example cases and explanations with cited notes
---we're doomed
donsar's review against another edition
4.0
Another excellent book by the Secret Barrister (SB). Full disclosure, I'm a lawyer myself, although I practice in Ireland. While SB's first book focused on the inequities of the British system particularly in light of the enormous cuts to the Justice budget, Fake Law looks at the relationship between law, media and politics.
Apart from a maturing of SB's writing style which you would expect for a second book, as a non-British lawyer I found there to be a greater resonance with the issues in my own jurisdiction. For that reason alone I prefer Fake Law. I would encourage anyone outside of the UK to give this book a go - you won't be disappointed. While of course the various cases discussed were British, many of them were very recent 'scandals' which were reported far and wide in the English-language press.
SB has a great punchy style of writing, but Chapter 2 proves that they're not just a one trick pony. This chapter looks at the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, two very young children where hospitals sought Orders to administer palliative care. Many people will remember the horrendous media storm which dragged in, amongst others, Donald Trump and the Pope. This chapter is really the stand out of the book and shows SB at their best. Infused with kindness towards the grieving parents, SB lambasts the special interest groups who latched on to the parents and the media (not only tabloids) and politicians of various stripes that encouraged and fanned the flames of the furore.
For me, the reiteration of some of the first principles of tort or the ECtHR were a little redundant (as of course we follow many of the same principles in Irish law) however I would certainly recommend this book for a prospective law student - not only are the cases discussed contemporary and interesting, SB is excellent at breaking down complex areas of law back to basics.
SB finishes with a serious of somewhat loose suggestions on what can be done to aid the generally terrible understanding the public (and politicians) have of the law. Only a few pages are devoted to this and it is perhaps the weakest part of the book. I actually thought the suggestion that new MPs entering Parliament should attend mandatory law courses an excellent one - I don't understand why SB walked that back!
Overall, this book is a truly excellent and prescient popular law book and I will be pressing it into many, many hands. SB is firmly established as an 'instant buy' author for me.
Apart from a maturing of SB's writing style which you would expect for a second book, as a non-British lawyer I found there to be a greater resonance with the issues in my own jurisdiction. For that reason alone I prefer Fake Law. I would encourage anyone outside of the UK to give this book a go - you won't be disappointed. While of course the various cases discussed were British, many of them were very recent 'scandals' which were reported far and wide in the English-language press.
SB has a great punchy style of writing, but Chapter 2 proves that they're not just a one trick pony. This chapter looks at the cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, two very young children where hospitals sought Orders to administer palliative care. Many people will remember the horrendous media storm which dragged in, amongst others, Donald Trump and the Pope. This chapter is really the stand out of the book and shows SB at their best. Infused with kindness towards the grieving parents, SB lambasts the special interest groups who latched on to the parents and the media (not only tabloids) and politicians of various stripes that encouraged and fanned the flames of the furore.
For me, the reiteration of some of the first principles of tort or the ECtHR were a little redundant (as of course we follow many of the same principles in Irish law) however I would certainly recommend this book for a prospective law student - not only are the cases discussed contemporary and interesting, SB is excellent at breaking down complex areas of law back to basics.
SB finishes with a serious of somewhat loose suggestions on what can be done to aid the generally terrible understanding the public (and politicians) have of the law. Only a few pages are devoted to this and it is perhaps the weakest part of the book. I actually thought the suggestion that new MPs entering Parliament should attend mandatory law courses an excellent one - I don't understand why SB walked that back!
Overall, this book is a truly excellent and prescient popular law book and I will be pressing it into many, many hands. SB is firmly established as an 'instant buy' author for me.