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The Truth Hurts
Criminal justice systems are not designed to seek the truth. In places like Australia, court proceedings remain an adversarial blood sport at times distorted by smoke and mirrors or failed by individual shortcomings. Navigating it is difficult and uncertain for any one of us but more so if you are poor, not white - or not white enough - not a straight male or have no formal education. Simply put, the most vulnerable among us are unfairly exposed to unjust outcomes.Drawing on his experiences as a child of Burmese migrants fleeing a military junta and his evolution from a naive law clerk, too shy to speak, into a lawyer whose ponytailed flamboyance and unbridled willingness to speak truth to power riled many within the legal establishment, Andrew Boe delves into cases he found unable to leave behind. These cases have shaped who he has become. Taking us from a case of traditional punishment gone wrong in the Gibson Desert to deaths in police custody on Palm Island and in Yuendumu in the Northern Territory - places where race relations are often stalled in a colonial time warp - to an isolated rural home, and the question of what is self-defence after decades of domestic abuse; to cases of children abandoned, 'stolen' and then fought over; and into prison interview rooms and courthouses around the country where Boe defended serial killers, rapists, child sex offenders, murderers as well as the odd politician - he holds fast to the premise that either every one of us is entitled to the presumption of innocence or none of us are. THE TRUTH HURTS is an unflinching exploration of the fault lines in our justice system by an outsider who found his way in. With forthright and uncompromising focus, Boe, now a barrister, spares no one, including himself, in this thought-provoking and at times brutal account. He argues that to give each other a 'fair go', we should all first acknowledge the flaws in the current system, address our individual and collective weaknesses, and engage in a nuanced, real conversation about the human cost of not getting to the truth.'It lacks nothing but a kill switch' - Trent Dalton
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 11, 2020
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January 23, 2024Undecided. Parts that I thoroughly enjoyed and recognised from my own practice and experience in many years working in the space were undermined by elements I disagreed with to the point of it being jarring. That, I can approach from a position of understanding that we all have different experiences and beliefs, and one is strengthened by hearing others'. I also value those who are bravely disruptive, who force society and systems to face hard truths - even where they hurt.
I was, however, very disappointed in the continued attacks on the work done by ALS and Legal Aid, without concurrent consideration of the barriers faced by legal assistance providers in this space. Whilst much is included re the need to improve justice, no reflection is included re the crucial role played every single day by services and practitioners, or the long term and systemic underfunding, undervaluing, and dismissal of the sector by successive governments.
The consequences of this abound - for example, recruitment and retention challenges are exacerbated by staggering caseloads, pitiful salaries, systems failures, and vicarious trauma (which the sector isn't funded to repair). The ensuing impacts at senior levels of the profession mean a lack of mentoring and capacity building of more junior practitioners, leading to overwhelm and burnout. Whilst legal assistance providers are not beyond reproach, the undermining of practitioners on the ground doing their best in often impossible conditions, without any engagement with possible systemic and political solutions, runs the risk of destroying community trust in services and gives fodder to politicians determined to dismiss them, further perpetuating the issues.
I don't expect the author to have the answers - but found this element, oft repeated, at odds with the rest of the book where he prompted the reader to explore their own values and to consider solutions with some useful discussion and reflections.
I was, however, very disappointed in the continued attacks on the work done by ALS and Legal Aid, without concurrent consideration of the barriers faced by legal assistance providers in this space. Whilst much is included re the need to improve justice, no reflection is included re the crucial role played every single day by services and practitioners, or the long term and systemic underfunding, undervaluing, and dismissal of the sector by successive governments.
The consequences of this abound - for example, recruitment and retention challenges are exacerbated by staggering caseloads, pitiful salaries, systems failures, and vicarious trauma (which the sector isn't funded to repair). The ensuing impacts at senior levels of the profession mean a lack of mentoring and capacity building of more junior practitioners, leading to overwhelm and burnout. Whilst legal assistance providers are not beyond reproach, the undermining of practitioners on the ground doing their best in often impossible conditions, without any engagement with possible systemic and political solutions, runs the risk of destroying community trust in services and gives fodder to politicians determined to dismiss them, further perpetuating the issues.
I don't expect the author to have the answers - but found this element, oft repeated, at odds with the rest of the book where he prompted the reader to explore their own values and to consider solutions with some useful discussion and reflections.
February 27, 2021
About halfway through I wanted to stop; it is heavy on the heart. An emotional read but one you won’t regret.
February 10, 2021
There is a lot to like about this book. As someone who hopes to work in a similar sphere, this book was, as Edward Cullen would say, 'my own personal brand of heroin'; reading about criminal defence from a lawyer's perspective is interesting and unique (we are so used to hearing from fictional, on screen lawyers that this is a breath of fresh air).
As a book, it is oddly shaped - it never gives you what you think it will. This isn't quite a memoir, and certainly not a tell all; Boe surrenders snippets of his childhood and suggests the overall shape of his career, but while he's happy to chat on the nature strip, we certainly aren't invited inside. And written by a lawyer, it lacks the ire of an activist or political work - his episodic chapters raise significant questions, with the point frequently being that the question ought to be raised and considered.
I enjoyed the style. Boe's storytelling regarding the crimes was not sensationalist or steeped in emotion, yet I still feel he narrated it in a way that you formed strong, if conflicted, feelings about each matter described.
On my recommended pre-reading list, this is probably the best thing I've been told to read by a law professor.
As a book, it is oddly shaped - it never gives you what you think it will. This isn't quite a memoir, and certainly not a tell all; Boe surrenders snippets of his childhood and suggests the overall shape of his career, but while he's happy to chat on the nature strip, we certainly aren't invited inside. And written by a lawyer, it lacks the ire of an activist or political work - his episodic chapters raise significant questions, with the point frequently being that the question ought to be raised and considered.
I enjoyed the style. Boe's storytelling regarding the crimes was not sensationalist or steeped in emotion, yet I still feel he narrated it in a way that you formed strong, if conflicted, feelings about each matter described.
On my recommended pre-reading list, this is probably the best thing I've been told to read by a law professor.
August 11, 2020
The Truth Might Hurt But It Also Sets Free
Andrew Boe has examined his life and some key criminal cases with which he has established his legal credentials - and in all his telling he neither shies away from what he sees as his own failures - but from which he learns lessons - nor does he stand back from some truly awful challenges of cases.
He is a great Australian - a shared fellow feeling for others - like most of us - who are of non-Indigenous and immigrant or refugee backgrounds - which is just about all of us even though some seem to have forgotten that fact - and of huge respect for Indigenous or First Nations Australians - and indeed for having family connections there too.
Heightened understanding of the ill effects of an invading colonisation along with dispossessions of land and language, of children, of rights.
Andrew had my admiration from the start when he spoke of the strange thing we call justice - an adversarial process not actually necessarily concerned with arriving at the truth - unlike - so far as I read it - the Code Napoléon, for example.
His examples from cases are clearly presented - and it is obvious as he lays out the details why the person is guilty - except that he then goes on further by delving into all the other details not presented in a lower court which reveal the true complexity of the background to the case and which must be addressed to reach true justice.
Politicians seem always to be at least a major spanner in the works unless it is the hubris which can come with the Peter Principle of the legal establishment when mere mortals of the profession become the god-like magistrates and judges - those at least who let the position go to their heads.
This book should be required reading for ALL senior secondary Legal Studies students - if not indeed as a recommended piece of literature for all senior HSC English students. Bravo, Andrew Boe! You have made golden the memory of your father!
Andrew Boe has examined his life and some key criminal cases with which he has established his legal credentials - and in all his telling he neither shies away from what he sees as his own failures - but from which he learns lessons - nor does he stand back from some truly awful challenges of cases.
He is a great Australian - a shared fellow feeling for others - like most of us - who are of non-Indigenous and immigrant or refugee backgrounds - which is just about all of us even though some seem to have forgotten that fact - and of huge respect for Indigenous or First Nations Australians - and indeed for having family connections there too.
Heightened understanding of the ill effects of an invading colonisation along with dispossessions of land and language, of children, of rights.
Andrew had my admiration from the start when he spoke of the strange thing we call justice - an adversarial process not actually necessarily concerned with arriving at the truth - unlike - so far as I read it - the Code Napoléon, for example.
His examples from cases are clearly presented - and it is obvious as he lays out the details why the person is guilty - except that he then goes on further by delving into all the other details not presented in a lower court which reveal the true complexity of the background to the case and which must be addressed to reach true justice.
Politicians seem always to be at least a major spanner in the works unless it is the hubris which can come with the Peter Principle of the legal establishment when mere mortals of the profession become the god-like magistrates and judges - those at least who let the position go to their heads.
This book should be required reading for ALL senior secondary Legal Studies students - if not indeed as a recommended piece of literature for all senior HSC English students. Bravo, Andrew Boe! You have made golden the memory of your father!
October 17, 2020
I am not sure how to review this book. The introduction compared to the rest of the book gave very different impressions. I appreciated that the majority of the book served to narrate the authors interactions with the messy, difficult parts of our judicial system, things like false rape allegations or aboriginal deaths in custody. He included his experiences even where his errors made the situation worse or perpetuated some of these problems. I much preferred this approach to the more politicised intro. These problems are ones that there is no easy answer to, but certainly deserve the exposure they gained through this book. We live in a world where systems like the judiciary are fraught and imperfect, and trying to take it all on, to fix it all, is more than anyone can or should ever do. Each of us as a single person are both too small and too fallible, too likely to replace one set of problems with a new set based on our own unconscious biases and assumptions. But awareness of the faults in our world is something I think everyone should have.
April 10, 2023
A very readable look at the Australian legal system, the ideals it operates under and the serious systematic problems it faces.
January 21, 2021
I really like this book. Burmese born lawyer, Andrew Boe is honest and hard-hitting in his reflections on the Australian justice system, including about his own, less than shiny, early experiences as a lawyer. By looking at a number of cases in which Boe was involved, some very high profile, this book is highly thought-provoking and revealing in examining the workings of the justice system. It is also a fascinating insight into the professional journey and evolution of one of Australia's brightest legal practitioners. Intellectually stimulating while also deeply humanistic.
October 11, 2020
Andrew Boe is a criminal lawyer who has defended some interesting cases in Australia. His bio on the Black Chambers Web site is amazing. It says that 'Andrew has appeared in courts and tribunals in most states and territories of Australia (and in the High Court) in criminal litigation concerning a broad spectrum of offences, including serious sex offences, drug offences, fraud, corruption, driving offences causing death or injury, serious assault, unlawful killing and murder. He has also appeared in coronial inquiries, commissions of inquiry, civil defamation proceedings and, on occasions, in child protection matters and represented many professionals, including lawyers, medical practitioners and those who work in the financial sector, in respect of quasi-criminal and professional misconduct allegations.'
In THE TRUTH HURTS Boe shares his own experiences as a lawyer by telling stories that illustrate how those who are socially marginalised, Indigenous, or refugees often fail to find justice from the legal system. Boe is a good storyteller. Some of the stories are very confronting and Boe is unafraid to tell the truth from his perspective -- even if it hurts. But, as the saying goes, the truth can set you free. This was an incredibly enlightening book and there were aspects of Australia's legal system that I didn't know about. It's a fascinating, disturbing, and eye-opening, important book.
In THE TRUTH HURTS Boe shares his own experiences as a lawyer by telling stories that illustrate how those who are socially marginalised, Indigenous, or refugees often fail to find justice from the legal system. Boe is a good storyteller. Some of the stories are very confronting and Boe is unafraid to tell the truth from his perspective -- even if it hurts. But, as the saying goes, the truth can set you free. This was an incredibly enlightening book and there were aspects of Australia's legal system that I didn't know about. It's a fascinating, disturbing, and eye-opening, important book.
February 22, 2021
Boe is a crusader lawyer, and that passion comes through this volume in spades. He's also willing to explore the ambiguity of human behaviour and the dynamics of punishment and 'justice', which makes this fascinating reading. On the whole (there are exceptions), Boe is interested in discussing the difficult cases, the ones that test our assumptions and clearly, to him, prove the value of defense counsel.
I wasn't always comfortable with Boe's perspective, which I guess is partly the point, especially in the sections dealing with sexual assault. As a survivor of not only sexual assaults, but also a subsequent trial and sentencing, I was both glad to see that much of what I was expected to comply with no longer happens, but also discomfited with Boe's warnings about the dangers of false accusations, and his certainty about the correctness of the verdicts in the cases he covers in detail.
My partner and I had started to watch the latest Underbelly series recently, which deals with the story of Nicola Gobbo. The series clear take that defense was the scum side of the profession was shocking to someone brought up on Rumpole of the Bailey's "Always Defend!". More than either of these entertainments, Boe's book helps understand the world of criminal law, and the kind of reasons a defender would be called to it.
I wasn't always comfortable with Boe's perspective, which I guess is partly the point, especially in the sections dealing with sexual assault. As a survivor of not only sexual assaults, but also a subsequent trial and sentencing, I was both glad to see that much of what I was expected to comply with no longer happens, but also discomfited with Boe's warnings about the dangers of false accusations, and his certainty about the correctness of the verdicts in the cases he covers in detail.
My partner and I had started to watch the latest Underbelly series recently, which deals with the story of Nicola Gobbo. The series clear take that defense was the scum side of the profession was shocking to someone brought up on Rumpole of the Bailey's "Always Defend!". More than either of these entertainments, Boe's book helps understand the world of criminal law, and the kind of reasons a defender would be called to it.
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September 16, 2020I got through the first three-quarters of this book in a few days. The rest took much longer. Something about the closing chapters lost me. I think the author sounded quite bitter and burned out. I don't want that to take from the importance of this book. Andrew Boe makes me proud to be Australian and I hope he feels great pride in what he has done for many. This book should be prescribed to anyone involved in the justice system.
September 29, 2020
This was an eye popping read for me. It is quite graphic in parts, but Andrew invites readers to reflect on the failings of the law in Australia as he humanises the individuals that get caught up in criminal system. He opens eyes to the failings of Australia’s legal world - including its lawyers and judges - and is honest about his own failings and growth. I couldn’t put this down - highly recommend!
January 12, 2021
A great and interesting book that highlights the injustice currently prevalent in our legal systems today. The cases he explained helped address issues that need to be talked about. However, he also talked about how far we have come since he first entered the world of law. Very inspiring, and would recommend to anyone interested in the legal system of taking up a career in the law.
August 4, 2023
It was a difficult read due to the subject matter of some of the cases detailed here. I did enjoy it and found the author to be very honest when discussing his own flaws. There were a few opinions he has that I might have disagreed with. The case of “Jason” and the sympathy the author had towards him spring to mind.
August 30, 2020
4.5 stars
October 24, 2020
Excellent read about Andrew’s experience as a criminal barrister in the Australian justice system. His experience is eye opening and he details criminal cases that are unprincipled and chaotic.
May 3, 2021
A great discussion about what is wrong with the Australian justice system, while recognising the importance of the implementation of the Rule of Law.
June 11, 2025
Criminal barristers have the weighted privilege to see people’s lives as they are rather than as they could or should be.
The truth can hurt, as is evident in Andrew Boe’s gentle and honest appraisal of his contribution to acting decently amongst circumstances less so. As a lawyer and a person.
An easy to read book that is accessible for those interested in life and the law that could help many of the uninitiated understand some of the conundrums a complex, multiracial, increasingly unequal society inevitably crafts.
Andrew’s breadth of experience is impressive, as is the range of interesting people who have climbed aboard his legal cab. I highly recommend reading The Truth Hurts, whether as part of your education, while sitting in a courtroom watching a case or more leisurely, perhaps in your cell.
Thanks Andrew. Please keep being decent.
The truth can hurt, as is evident in Andrew Boe’s gentle and honest appraisal of his contribution to acting decently amongst circumstances less so. As a lawyer and a person.
An easy to read book that is accessible for those interested in life and the law that could help many of the uninitiated understand some of the conundrums a complex, multiracial, increasingly unequal society inevitably crafts.
Andrew’s breadth of experience is impressive, as is the range of interesting people who have climbed aboard his legal cab. I highly recommend reading The Truth Hurts, whether as part of your education, while sitting in a courtroom watching a case or more leisurely, perhaps in your cell.
Thanks Andrew. Please keep being decent.
May 21, 2025
This book provides an excellent and balanced insight into the workings of the Australian legal system as well as its shortcomings.
Andrew Boe has been working in the criminal justice system since the 1990s, primarily as a defence lawyer. He has defended some of Australia's most notorious criminals during his career. But whilst these are the cases that have brought him the most attention, it's his lesser known and often pro-bono cases that have the most impact. Cases such as the death of Cameron Doomadgee on Palm Island whilst in police custody.
Throughout this book Andrew aims to shed light on the injustices that are carried out by Australia's legal system daily. Injustices that he rightly claims stem from the persistent the enemies of racial, gender, sexual, religious, cultural, language and ability discrimination.
Truly a worthwhile read.
Andrew Boe has been working in the criminal justice system since the 1990s, primarily as a defence lawyer. He has defended some of Australia's most notorious criminals during his career. But whilst these are the cases that have brought him the most attention, it's his lesser known and often pro-bono cases that have the most impact. Cases such as the death of Cameron Doomadgee on Palm Island whilst in police custody.
Throughout this book Andrew aims to shed light on the injustices that are carried out by Australia's legal system daily. Injustices that he rightly claims stem from the persistent the enemies of racial, gender, sexual, religious, cultural, language and ability discrimination.
Truly a worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews