From Free Life, Issue 26, December 1996
ISSN: 0260 5112

This reasonably-priced, little book is essential reading for libertarians because they all risk prosecution in this increasingly Orwellian country.

Within its limits it is very informative. (It only deals with criminal charges, not civil claims such as libel, and does not cover Scotland and Northern Ireland which have separate legal systems).

In the introduction, Geoffrey Robertson QC mentions the availability of legal aid as an alternative to defending yourself. That, however, is under threat. The Conservative Government plans to restrict it and Labour is pledged to replace criminal legal aid with an American style "Public Defender" system ie conducted by civil servants. Each prosecuted libertarian must, therefore, consider the option of conducting his or her own independent defence. This is especially important, as the introduction explains, if he or she is pleading not guilty on moral grounds, having committed the illegal act. In such circumstances, as Geoffrey Robertson points out, a lawyer is prohibited by professional rules from urging the court to ignore the law. A Defendant in person is not so restricted.

The book has some failings. It does not adequately explain the significance of arrest for mere questioning, which is now alas lawful in this country. Similarly more information is desirable on the technicalities of the "Green Form" scheme (limited free legal advice for persons on low incomes) and the obtaining and completion of Legal Aid forms. Also helpful would be fuller details of how to plead mitigation. In addition there should be guidance on press statements during and after the trial, especially in view of England's strict sub judice rules. The exact procedure for obtaining the destruction of fingerprints and photos after an acquittal is not described.

The book was published before the panic enactment on 3rd April 1996 of the Prevention of Terrorism (Additional Powers) Act, allowing the police to stop and search anyone at will, without suspicion. It thus cannot comment on the increasing presumption of guilt perverting the whole legal system in what was one of the world's oldest democracies and which is now by far the most authoritarian State in the European Union. And remember - British legislators keep enacting new criminal laws, but never repeal any!

The chapters on preparing for and conducting a case in court are superb. The list of useful books and addresses is also helpful, although the latter should be much longer. It does not, for instance, mention the Free Representation Unit staffed by pupil barristers, nor many special interest law reform groups which are prepared to give advice in their fields.

I urge libertarians to purchase this book as a necessary survival guide to living in an authoritarian country deceptively masquerading as a liberal democracy. I hope it is regularly updated and republished, to take account of the continuing assaults of compulsively nannyist parliamentarians on the right of individuals to live their lives as they want.

Ted Goodman

Ted Goodman, is a lawyer who has been campaigning for freedom of expression for twenty years. He is Chair of the Campaign Against Censorship and a member of the Committee of the National Campaign for the Reform of the Obscene Publications Acts. Also active in politics, he has come to the conclusion that "No sex please-we're British" is part of the grundyist, insular character of this "sceptred isle" !