British Law and justice system might touch our lives when we have an accident, a wrong is done to us, or we have a family difficulty. They are vast, ancient and cover everything from the personal to the regulation of our government. But to most of us, they are a wen of intimidating institutions and practices.

Baroness Hale, after spending a decade writing about England’s justice system, shows us how the law is on our side, by taking us into the complexities of real courts and real decisions, we see that we all have rights: schoolchildren, disabled people, workers, minorities and patients. English justice is done in the open, but the age of the court case as public entertainment is long over, and few venture into their local magistrates’ court to observe the proceedings.

Lady Hale is a fan of the modern British rights regime as embodied by the Human Rights litigation that have come up in front of the courts.

Just as Lord Denning became the pin-up for an earlier generation of law students, Lady Hale minus the dubious racial remarks, even though colleagues declared her to be “difficult”; a few interpersonal spats made it to the law reports. The peak of her fame came in 2019 when, as president of the Supreme Court, she told a worldwide audience that Boris Johnson’s advice to Elizabeth II to prorogue parliament had been null and void. The spider brooch she wore on that day, led her memoir being titled Spider Woman.

“With The Law On Our Side”, is a travelogue through England’s unloved courts and tribunals, including the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, that symbol of Victorian enlightenment where the big money cases as well as criminal appeals and judicial review are heard, and the Old Bailey stories about the dilemmas of deciding what is right and just, and which invite you say where justice lies before knowing what the courts decided. WE see first-hand how the people whose needs the law is designed to protect actually experience it. At the other end, are courts like Middlesbrough county court of the Teeside Combined Court Centre and the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal suite in London as well as criminal and family courts.

Lady Brenda Hale is a national treasure and her book is a citizen’s guidebook to the law in our land, a top-to-bottom tour with an expert guide, captivating stories, and tells us what the law is about, how it works and most importantly whey we should all care about it.

She describes the hearings she attends at each venue with a keen eye for freshness, of perspective. The cocaine dealer and the benefits claimant each get their due, as there are many unexpectedly important moments. 

With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make It Work Better by Lady Hale, Bodley Head £25, 304 pages.