Emergency State

Superb… authoritative, thoughtful and terrifying in equal measure * The Secret Barrister *A riveting account of how our democracy was put under threat during the Pandemic and why we must never let the Emergency State - all-powerful but ignorant and corrupt - take over again * Lady Hale, former President of the UK Supreme Court *A wake-up call for citizens to be more alert to measures … that seek to undermine democracy * The Times, Best Law Books of 2022 *A vital contribution to a debate we need to have * Financial Times *Piercing and profoundly troubling, this is a journey to the heart of the pandemic and the great British struggle to balance the well-being of the individual and the group. A tale of rights and misdemeanours, told with a passion of power and forensic precision * Philippe Sands, author of East West Street *Absolutely invaluable. Adam Wagner has been an indispensable guide and this is a gripping, important, definitive book * Dr Xand van Tulleken *Emergency State demonstrates why Adam Wagner rapidly became the indispensable authority on the unprecedented restrictions on liberty that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic. Clear-eyed, forensic and compelling, it sets out what happened - and the urgent lessons we need to learn * Jonathan Freedland, author of The Escape Artist *At times, Emergency State reads like a dystopian novel with a dramatic plot twist - those who wrote these draconian laws failed to follow them. The law expert who kept the receipts, Adam Wagner has written the definitive account of a unique moment in legal history * Susanna Reid *Astonishing. Detailed, dispassionate and definitive. An urgent warning and a work of major importance * James O’Brien *Fascinating. An invaluable service to historians of the pandemic, and a passionate and compelling argument for the rule of law * Baron Danny Finkelstein *

Adam Wagner is one of the UK’s leading human rights barristers and the country’s pre-eminent expert on COVID-19 laws. He was described in the House of Lords as ‘the only person in the country who can make sense of this variety of regulations’.

He appears regularly on TV and radio, and during the pandemic was often called upon to interpret the bewildering COVID-19 laws, explaining to Piers Morgan whether it was legal to sit on a park bench and helping the public understand when politicians broke the law.

Adam has acted in some of the key human rights cases of recent years, including for #ReclaimTheseStreets in their successful case against the Metropolitan Police relating to the vigil following the murder of Sarah Everard. He was Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the human rights implications of COVID-19 and is a Visiting Professor of Law at Goldsmiths, University of London. He practises from Doughty Street Chambers.

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