Fake Law Book Summary - Fake Law Book explained in key points

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Fake Law summary

Name: Fake Law
Rating: 4.7 (30 reviews)
Author: The Secret Barrister

The Secret Barrister

The Truth About Justice in an Age of Lies

4.7 (30 ratings)

20 mins

Table of Contents

Fake Law
summarized in 7 key ideas

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What’s in it for me? Learn about fake law from an insider.

Innocent homeowner prosecuted for tackling intruder! Ruthless criminal receives soft sentence! Foreign judge interferes with British justice! These are just some examples of the angry soundbites the media confronts us with. If these reports are to be believed, then the law, it seems, is always on the side of the criminal, with ordinary British people suffering as a result.

But how many of these angry headlines are true? Many are simply an example of fake law. This disturbing new phenomenon, akin to fake news, involves the media and politicians seeking to distort the truth about our legal system and how it impacts our freedoms.

In these blinks, you’ll learn how to separate fact from fiction in legal reporting and discover what English law really says about contentious issues like child welfare, immigration, and personal injury compensation. As you unravel some of the most infamous cases from recent legal history, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the laws that govern the lives of British citizens, and appreciate why judges make such controversial decisions.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why an English court prevented a sick child from receiving treatment;
why rape victims don’t always get justice; and
what English law really says about self-defense.

Fake law tells us that homeowners defending themselves are treated like criminals.

If an Englishman’s home is his castle, these days it may seem he no longer has the right to defend it. Consider the infamous case of Tony Martin, a farmer who was convicted of murder in 2000, for shooting dead an intruder who broke into his farmhouse in the middle of the night. Martin was described in the popular press as a hero and a tragic example of how the law turns innocent homeowners into criminals.

But, in reality, English law clearly states that you can defend yourself, your family, and your property against intruders.

The key message here is: Fake law tells us that homeowners defending themselves are treated like criminals.

Under English self-defense laws, even killing can be legally permissible as long your actions fulfill two vital criteria.

First, you must have believed that using force was necessary to protect yourself from harm. Crucially, it doesn’t matter if you’re correct in this assumption, it only matters that you genuinely thought, at that moment, that your life was in danger. For instance, if you seriously injure a masked attacker who runs at you with a machete, and afterward realize that it was actually a children’s entertainer dressed as Winnie the Pooh, then you could still claim that you acted in self-defense.

Second, your response must be proportionate to the threat you face. For example, if someone slaps you and your response is to shoot them, then you’d struggle to convince a jury that you acted reasonably.

Convicted homeowner, Tony Martin, claimed that he suddenly came face to face with the home intruders, but the truth was far more sinister. Instead, Martin heard the intruders approaching his house. While they were still in his garden, Martin silently dressed, loaded his gun, and went downstairs. Then, he lay in wait until he was sure that the intruders had entered and couldn’t escape. Finally, he shot to kill.

Rather than believing that he was defending himself and his property, Martin appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner that night, using deadly, and wholly disproportionate, force.

So, he wasn’t convicted because the law is biased against homeowners, but because he failed to meet either of the vital criteria for self-defense.

English law is bound to act in a child’s best interests.

Charlie Gard was just two months old when he was diagnosed with a rare disease called mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, or MDDS. By the time he was six months old, Charlie was a permanent resident in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, unable to breathe without a ventilator. He was effectively blind and deaf, couldn’t move his arms and legs, and had severely abnormal brain function. His quality of life was so low, in fact, that his doctors wanted to withdraw ventilation from him.

But Charlie’s distraught parents didn’t agree. They wanted to take Charlie to the United States, where a doctor had offered him pioneering treatment. So, the court was asked to rule on whether Charlie could travel to America, or whether he should stay in England, and die.

English law states that citizens have a duty of care toward their fellow citizens.

If media reports are anything to go by, it’s never been easier to get money for nothing. Open any tabloid newspaper in the UK and you’ll likely find articles about its crazy lawsuit culture. Like the kid who was splashed by custard in the school cafeteria and won a £6,000 payout, or the cleaner who fell over their own mop and received £9,000 in compensation.

These cases may sound ridiculous, but when we examine English personal injury law, we begin to see how mishaps with custard and mops can justify such large sums.

Fake Law accuses The Humans Rights Act of championing dangerous criminals.

It should go without saying that human rights are important, but what happens when human rights law goes too far? Consider the case of Mohammed Ibrahim, an Iraqi national living illegally in Britain. In 2003, he was convicted of driving offenses after being involved in a road traffic accident in which a twelve-year-old girl died.

When Ibrahim was released from prison, the UK government attempted to deport him back to Iraq but found that they couldn’t. Why? Because a judge ruled that deporting him would be a breach of his human rights.

The burden of proof lies with the prosecution.

It’s an uncomfortable reality of the English justice system that not all victims of crime receive justice.

Consider a scenario in which a rape victim’s case goes to court. The victim takes the stand and gives evidence; a grueling ordeal which makes the victim feel as if they’re the one on trial. Yet after all this, the attacker is found not guilty.

We’re all entitled to be treated equally by the law.

Is it ever justifiable that someone receives special treatment under the law? In 2008, the British public seemed to think so. The name of that someone was Sir Fred Goodwin, and in the months following the 2008 financial crash, he became public enemy number one.

Thanks to his lousy decision-making as the Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank had to be bailed out by the government at great taxpayer expense. After he was forced to resign, the media learned he was still entitled to a £700,000 annual pension from the bank – for life.

The British judiciary did not, in fact, stop Brexit.

In June 2016 over 17 million British people voted to leave the European Union – the highest number of people who had ever voted for anything in British political history. After this astonishing victory, Britain’s eurosceptics looked forward to a swift exit from the EU.

But just months later, as the UK government prepared to start the withdrawal process, they found an unexpected obstacle in its path, in the form of three High Court judges. To the bitter chagrin of millions, these judges ruled that the government couldn’t proceed with Brexit as planned.

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What is Fake Law about?

Fake Law (2020) examines the truth behind some of Britain’s most infamous crimes and criminal trials. Packed with insights into how the law really works, these blinks explore the disconnect between the reality of the justice system, and how it’s portrayed in the media.

Best quote from Fake Law

The rule of law requires that all of us – from Crown to citizens – be governed by and subject to the democratically created laws of the land.

—The Secret Barrister

Who should read Fake Law?

True crime fans
Law students looking for a fresh perspective
Anyone interested in current affairs

About the Author

The Secret Barrister is the anonymous pen name of a successful barrister, whose mission is to demystify the law for the average citizen. Their writing has appeared in such publications as the Guardian, the Times, and Esquire, and their first book, The Secret Barrister, was a Sunday Times best seller.

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