How England sold its justice system to the global rich

The enormous costs of the UK law (and indeed US law) have made it a weapon for the rich. American activists have long fought against “SLAPP” actions – “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation”.  The oligarch or corporation ties up an opponent with vastly expensive proceedings that drag on for years. Even if they are cleared in the end, the cost, the pressure, the fear, and the waste of time are punishments in themselves.

The UK now markets itself as a place for the global rich to sue. As well as lawyers, London offers private detectives, PR firms and surveillance companies.

The Spectator asked me to write about Tom Burgiss’s excellent new book on the overweening power of money in the UK. Here it is. After that I’m running a longer piece from a decade ago on how it became the policy of the Conservative party to sell the law in the global market place.

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English civil law has become a luxury good beyond the reach of most of us

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In March 2020, Charlotte Leslie, a former Conservative MP, and widely regarded as a thoughtful, friendly woman, had her life turned upside down. The threat of professional and financial ruin hit her, and stayed with her solely because she had offended a wealthy man.

Leslie was the director of the Conservative Middle East Council. Mohamed Amersi, a businessman worth hundreds of millions of pounds, appeared from nowhere and announced that he wanted to become the council’s chairman. Leslie politely showed him the door. The next thing she knew, Amersi had set up a rival Middle East organisation to liaise between the Conservative party and the oil-rich states of the Gulf.

“Who is this guy, she thought, and why are senior figures in my party asking me to accommodate him?”