With the Law on Our Side

**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026* 'A principled, timely and vital reminder of why justice matters' PHILIPPE SANDS 'Accessible, forensic and breathtakingly humane' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI Told through captivating real cases in real courts, the former President of the Supreme Court leads us on a deeply entertaining and vitally important top-to-bottom tour of the law in our land. Our laws 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 web of intimidating institutions and practices. Lady Hale - an inspirational figure admired for her historic achievements and activism - shows us how the law is on our side. 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. Here are true stories from every part of the justice system, from lowly benefits tribunals and magistrates' courts to the lofty heights of the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Bailey; stories about the dilemmas of deciding what is right and just, and which invite you to 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. With the Law on Our Side is a citizen's guidebook to the law in our land, a top-to-bottom tour with a supremely expert guide. In captivating stories, it tells us what the law is about, how it works and most importantly why we should all care about it. 'Brenda Hale is a national treasure. If this country made any sense, we'd make this book part of the syllabus' IAN DUNT

Brenda Hale, Rt Hon the Baroness Hale of Richmond DBE, was born in Yorkshire and studied Law at Girton College, Cambridge. She was called to the Bar in 1969 and spent almost twenty years in academia whilst also practising as a barrister for a short time. In 1984, Lady Hale became the first woman and the youngest person to be appointed to the Law Commission, where she oversaw critical reforms in family law and mental disability law. She also began sitting as a part time judge, was appointed a QC in 1989, and became a full time judge in the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales in 1994. She was the first and only woman to become a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, joining the appellate committee of the House of Lords in 2004, when it was still the top court for the whole United Kingdom. She was the first woman to serve on the newly created Supreme Court, was appointed Deputy President in 2013, and its President from 2017 to 2020. She lives in Richmond, North Yorkshire. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir Spider Woman and With the Law On Our Side.