Justice on Trial: Radical Solutions for a System at Breaking Point

Chris Daw QC has been practising criminal law for over 25 years, navigating Britain’s fractured justice system from within. He has looked into the eyes of murderers, acted for notorious criminals, and listened to the tangled tales woven by fraudsters, money launderers and drug barons. Yet his work takes place at the heart of a system at breaking point – one which is failing perpetrators, victims and society – and now he is convinced that something must change.

For most of us the criminal law only matters when we are victims of crime or are called for jury service. But what if everything we have been told about crime and punishment is wrong? What if the whole criminal justice system is a catastrophic waste of money, churning out lifelong criminals, dragging children into court from as young as ten, and fighting a war on drugs that can never be won?

Drawing on his own fascinating case histories and global reporting, including the 2019 London Bridge attacks, Alabama’s prison system and one of Britain’s most dramatic mass shootings, Daw presents a radical new set of solutions for crime and punishment. By turns shocking, moving and pragmatic, Justice on Trial offers rare inside access to a system in crisis and a roadmap to a future beyond the binary of ‘good’ and ‘evil’.

REVIEWS

Chris is a powerful force for good in the national debate on criminal justice. You should all go out and buy his book. - The Secret Barrister
Fast-paced, engaging and littered with fascinating and often shocking real-life cases, Daw portrays a judicial system that's broken from the lowest courts to the toughest prisons in the land, suggesting solutions that are as provocative as they are persuasive. - Matthew Wright, Broadcaster
Extraordinary - Krishnan Guru-Murthy
A shocking, disturbing, revealing and enlightening examination of a deeply flawed criminal justice system by someone who's seen at first hand what the problems are, and more importantly, knows how they should be fixed. - Piers Morgan
A hard hitting, page turning account of the failures of our criminal justice system describing through some of the author's own cases not only how our system evolved but also why it fails to deliver to the public the protection they deserve. - Cherie Blair QC
A passionately written blueprint for resolving some perennial problems with our justice system ... A powerful case for reform. - Geoffrey Robertson QC
Uncomfortable truths told in a compassionate and thoughtful way. Importantly, Chris offers hope and credible solutions. - Lady Edwina Grosvenor, Prison Philanthropist
Emotionally searing ... A political homme serieux with a determination to reform our disintegrating criminal justice system. - Jonathan Aitken, The Tablet
Will stand as a blueprint for criminal justice reform for decades to come ... A must read for those in power who genuinely want a system that works. - Erwin James, Inside Times