Best-selling author of The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken (Picador: 2018) and Fake Law: the Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies (Picador: 2020) and Independent Blogger of the Year (2017 and 2016 Comment Awards), the Secret Barrister is a junior barrister specialising in criminal law and blogs at thesecretbarrister.com. Nothing But The Truth: Stories of Crime, Guilt and the Loss of Innocence by the Secret Barrister was published by Picador on 12 May 2022.
A warts-and-all look back at SB’s pupillage: an extract from Nothing But The Truth
Newly minted Bar graduates compete at a ratio of 300:1 for a golden ticket to Wonka’s Criminal Justice Factory. The Secret Barrister explains why…
Few cases raise more hackles than foreign nationals breaching our criminal law, only for the government’s attempts at deporting them to be frustrated.
An extract from Fake Law: The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies by the Secret Barrister
Something must be done or the much-vaunted ‘new normal’ will be taking place without us. The Secret Barrister boils down the critical issues into a five-point alternative recovery plan for criminal justice
Broadcasting deals for on-screen sentencing: a decontextualised gift to bad-faith editors? Why we shouldn’t lose sight of the risks to open justice. By The Secret Barrister
Taking stock of your practice, planning for the future and adjusting the way you work is one way to make use of interrupted times. Athena Markides grilled a panel, one famously secret, at the Bar Conference for their advice
Grilling Richard Atkins QC on his fears and aspirations for the year ahead, The Secret Barrister finds a crusader chair with an ambitious and overarching aim
Digitising documents, yes. Digitising clients, no. The Secret Barrister’s resistance to the video-link revolution is both practical and principled
The Secret Barrister wears a black cape, fights crime and shares with Counsel an extract from their much-anticipated book on the criminal justice system: Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken
The Bar Council continues to call for investment for the justice system and represent the interests of our profession both at home and abroad
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
AlphaBiolabs has made a £500 donation to Sean’s Place, a men’s mental health charity based in Sefton, as part of its ongoing Giving Back initiative
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Six months of court observation at the Old Bailey: APPEAL’s Dr Nisha Waller and Tehreem Sultan report their findings on prosecution practices under joint enterprise
The Amazonian artist’s first international solo exhibition is wholly relevant to current issues in social and environmental justice, says Stephen Cragg KC
Despite its prevalence, autism spectrum disorder remains poorly understood in the criminal justice system. Does Alex Henry’s joint enterprise conviction expose the need to audit prisons? asks Dr Felicity Gerry KC
It’s been five years since the groundbreaking QC competition in which six Black women barristers, including the 2025 Chair of the Bar, took silk. Yet today, the number of Black KCs remains ‘critically low’. Desirée Artesi talks to Baroness Scotland KC, Allison Munroe KC and Melanie Simpson KC about the critical success factors, barriers and ideas for embedding change
In the final part of a series celebrating the Bar Pro Bono Award winners, Ramby de Mello and Doughty Street Chambers share the stories behind their awards
