Product Description

Geoff Robertson was born in Australia, bu came to London in 1970. He made his name as the fearless defender of Oz magazine at the celebrated trial and went on to engage in some of the most newsworthy cases in recent history. He has defended John Stonehouse, Cynthia Payne, Salman Rushdie, Kate Adie, Arthur Scargill, Daniel Sullivan, Gay News, 'The Romans of Britain', 'Niggaz with Attitude', and a pair of foetal earrings. The book includes accounts of recent cases including the defence of a West London gym owner against the Prince of Wales, the Matrix Churchill affair, and the defence of the Guardian in the cash-for-questions affair. Hugely readable, funny, scandalous, revelator, this will become one of the great books about the law.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28292 in Books
• Published on: 1999-02-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 430 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
As a young Australian barrister, Robertson found himself involved in the Oz trial; a frothingly moralistic judge went to some lengths to jail three editors of an underground magazine, and was duly humiliated on appeal. Success leads to opportunity; Robertson has found himself at the heart of a sequence of crucial freedom of expression trials--the Gay Newsblasphemy trial, the attempt to bust the National theatre over a play in which male rape took place, the arrest of a painter whose chosen subject was bank notes. His account of his career concentrates on these, and on his own entire brilliance in them; he is not a modest man, nor is there any particular reason why he should be, especially given how sharp and witty his accounts are. Robertson has also been involved in other causes cèlebres--he knows all about the Michael X case, and a variety of other capital cases in the Caribbean, and is fascinating on the Matrix Churchill case and the various libel actions around the "cash for questions" sleaze row. Anyone interested in the issues is going to find this a useful book--but the average intelligent reader is going to find the account of courtroom battles a guilty pleasure in itself. --Roz Kaveney

Customer Reviews

Abandon prejudice, all ye who enter here!
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I received it as a gift. Fearing another in the series of books about the law which have proved to be mere self-serving rants taking large bites out of the hands that feed their progenitors, I actually lined up a couple of books of short stories to read between chapters or when I got too annoyed. Instead, I was delighted and absorbed. Robertson celebrates the legal system and shows how it is not the system that fails us but those who endeavour to cheat it. Justice is a "game" in the sense that if everyone plays by the rules, the right side will win. For someone of his profession and profile, Robertson is relatively self-effacing, in the context of what must have been considerable temptation to sound his own horn. And the cases are fascinating, and beautifully told. Most inspiring of all is the strong sense of justice, and above all, ethics, which pervades every aspect of his prose. Robertson clearly believes that the end does not justify the means, and that if rules are broken, in both the long and short term it is justice which suffers. Sometime the erosion of ethical standards makes me want to leave the law. This book makes me want to stay. Mr Robertson, you wouldn't be looking for a pupil, would you?

Illuminating
An excellent book. As someone with no particular knowledge of the law, this was a most enjoyable recount of the criminal side of the justice system. The author has had the good fortune to be involved in many very interesting cases even from his earliest days, so while I'm sure those committed to print are not representative of the stock in trade, they do raise excellent points and are very well narrated.

The author is biased, and in the nature of a QC presents his side of the case, I spotted several points that I know to be misrepresentations. Still, that was to be expected, and it helps the pace that he makes no pretence at being even handed.

I have no hesitation in strongly recommending the book, especially to someone like myself who was just looking for something out of their field for a bit of variety. The only question in my mind is whether it merits that fifth star.

The Justice Game
In this excellent book, Geoffrey Robertson QC gives a very informative and enjoyable account of some of the cases he has dealt with during his carrier at the Bar, spanning, at the time of the publication of his book, over three decades. These included a number of various topics: defamation cases, blasphemy and/or indecency trials, public enquiries as well as human rights missions and death row work.
The book is thrilling, at times it reads like the best detective stories, the accounts given of court proceedings and the anecdotes are often hilarious. Certainly, no prior knowledge of the law is required to enjoy his stories; however, those trained in law will find it especially interesting to see how some of the fundamental tenets of English law (such as the presumption of innocence or the impartiality of the judge) can go pear-shaped in practice.
Most importantly, however, Robertson QC is prepared to take a clear moral stance on human rights and civil liberties and to criticise or defend the law from this viewpoint. He emphasises that, as a member of the legal profession, he does have to abide by certain rules and has certain duties and does not accept anything less from others when engaging in the "justice game".
The book should be recommended to those interested in current affairs, legal issues as well as to those simply enjoying fascinating books telling the story of a person's professional life.
Dan Tivadar