David Eric Lothian Johnston KC (born 1961) is a Scottish legal expert, currently Honorary Professor of Law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

.Profile o
David Eric Lothian Johnston
website of the Edinburgh Law School; read 17 July 2014.

Career

Johnston was an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge. He obtained a B.A. in 1982, a M.A. and Ph.D. in 1986 and an LL.D. in 2001 at the St John's College, Cambridge.Full CV of D. E. L. Johnston on the Website of Axiom Advocates; read 17 July 2014. 1985/86 he spent time as visiting scholar at the German institute for legal history in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

. He was appointed Junior Research Fellow at Christ's College, Cambridge between 1985 and 1989, after which he moved into legal practice, concentrating on public law, in particular, human rights, and commercial law. 1987 he also acted as visiting fellow of

Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparative Law (MCL ...

. 1992 he spent in legal practice. He was involved in the litigation arising from the

Lockerbie bombing Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boe ...

. From 1993 to 1999 he returned to academia as Regius Professor of Civil Law and Fellow of Christ's College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. Specializing in

Roman law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...

Scottish law Scots law () is the legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. Together with English law and Northern Ireland ...

and the

history of law Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilisations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and hist ...

, he is the author of four books. In 1996 and 1998 he taught as senior visiting fellow at University of California at Berkeley Law School and 1999 a visiting professorship at the Université de Paris I. In 2000, he resumed legal practice in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and reduced his teaching activities to an honorary professorship at the University of Edinburgh Law School. He held a visiting professorship at Osaka University Graduate Law School in 2000 and 2000 to 2003 in Paris. 2005, he was appointed King's Counsel.Profile o
D.E.L. Johnston
on the website of Axiom Advocates; read 17 July 2014. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2016.

Selected writings

* On a Singular Book of Cervidius Scaevola (1987) * The Roman Law of Trusts, Cambridge University Press (1988) * Roman Law in Context, Oxford University Press (1999) * Prescription and Limitation (1999)

References

External links

* * (year of birth) Scottish legal professionals Fellows of Christ's College, Cambridge 1961 births Living people Regius Professors of Civil Law (University of Cambridge) Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 21st-century King's Counsel Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge {{Scotland-law-bio-stub