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13 April 2018 / Chris Dale
Issue: 7788 / Categories: Features , Profession , Criminal
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​Book review: Stories of the Law and How it’s Broken

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“The depressing thing about this book is the clarity with which SB shows that many people beyond the complainant suffer needlessly at the hands of the criminal justice system” 

Author: The Secret Barrister 
ISBN: 9781509841103 
RRP: £16.99
Order via www.thesecretbarrister.com or pick up a copy from all good bookshops 

Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken, by the anonymous author known as The Secret Barrister (SB), describes the present appalling state of the criminal justice system and is one of those books which make you hate politicians. The decisions which underlie the conditions described in the book are the product of more than just budget-cutting; ideology and ignorance play their part, along with a cynical calculation about who votes for what. 

Most of us would confidently assert (or at least assume) that we will never fall victim to the criminal justice system. ‘Victim?’ you ask. There are victims of crime (or complainants who claim to be victims of alleged crimes, as we should

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Slater Heelis—Charlotte Beck

Partner and Manchester office lead appointed head of family

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

Civil Justice Council—Nigel Teasdale

DWF insurance services director appointed to Civil Justice Council

R3—Jodie Wildridge

R3—Jodie Wildridge

Kings Chambers barrister appointed chair of R3 Yorkshire

NEWS

The abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC

Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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