Month: March 2021

What is a jurist?

Surprisingly, this question does come up; but it’s fair.

There are several definitions:

• Someone who has a thorough knowledge of the law; esp., a judge or eminent legal scholar – Black’s Law Dictionary
• One having a thorough knowledge of law – Merriam-webster.com
• An expert in law, especially a judge – Cambridge Dictionary
• An expert of law or someone who researches jurisprudence – Wiktionary
• An expert in or writer on law – Lexico

We often hear the term jurist used when describing a judge. Many of those definitions contain the terms ‘thorough knowledge,’ ‘expert,’ and ‘eminent.’

However, historically it has been used to refer to a lawyer, a legal writer, or a legal scientist. Its origins are found in Roman Law, with legal commentators who would write to explain and interpret the law.

What does jurist mean in your name?

Firstly, I am not a licensed or practicing lawyer. Nothing I write about should ever be considered legal advice.

But, I consider myself knowledgeable, well-read and try to be up-to-date on various legal issues. When I refer to myself as a jurist, I believe it means a legal scholar who analyses, reads, researches, studies, and writes on the law.

Now, the Northern part of the name is simply a nod to where I am from.

Ahoy there!

Welcome to the first post on my blog.

First off, who am I?

I am a former sailor with the Royal Canadian Navy, who is now completing a Master of International Law thesis. More will be revealed and added to the About page in time.

What is the blog about?

This blog is my attempt to share my research, commentary, and opinion on issues regarding the subject of law.

Yes, this will be primarily an academic blog. When researching how to research, the idea of blogging came up. Several articles and videos inspired me to start a blog for myself.

Okay, gotcha, an academic blog about law… what will it be about?

There is so much about this topic that interests me – it can be hard to narrow down. My favourite topics when it comes to international law are Law of the Sea, Maritime Law, and International Criminal Law. Regarding the sea, most of my content will probably be geared to that.

There is no limit to what I will discuss, including legal philosophy, legal history, judicial interpretation, EU law, etc.

The posts will come from a variety of sources:

• Case Discussion
• Law Discussion
• Book Review
• Movie Review
• Whatever else

I hope to tie this with my YouTube channel (which is created but without content).

On commenting…

Please be respectful, critical, and try to further the discussion. This blog is about sharing my passion for law and also a chance to keep learning.

I reserve the right to be wrong and to be able to change my stance. My goal is to be as objective as possible, especially in case discussions. Book and movie reviews will be full of my subjective opinion.

Please feel free to e-mail me through the contact form with any comments, suggestions or questions.

Thanks for reading,

Northern Jurist