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Julian Burnside

Julian Burnside

Julian Burnside is a barrister who specialises in commercial litigation. He is deeply interested in the arts. He collects contemporary paintings, photographs and sculpture, and regularly commissions chamber music. He is the author of Matilda and the Dragon (1991), Word Watching: Field Notes from an Amateur Philologist (2004), and Watching Brief: Reflections on Human Rights, Law and Justice (2007).

Julian Burnside reviews 'Death Sentence: The decay of public language' by Don Watson

December 2003–January 2004, no. 257 • 01 December 2003
In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary of the English Language. In the preface, he laments the chaotic state of the language: ‘When I took the first survey of my undertaking, I found our speech copious without order, and energetick without rules; wherever I turned my view, there was perplexity to be disentangled and confusion to be regulated.’ He despaired at the scope and futility of ... (read more)

Julian Burnside reviews 'Torture and Democracy' by Darius Rejali

May 2008, no. 301 • 01 May 2008
There must be some part of the human psyche which secretly thrills at the idea of inflicting unbearable pain on others. How else to explain the fact that torture has been practised in every civilisation in every age? How else to explain the desperate cruelty and awesome ingenuity of the torturer’s craft? Many methods of torture are discussed in Darius Rejali’s book. It is a sorry truth that, ... (read more)

Julian Burnside reviews 'Death Sentence: The decay of public language' by Don Watson

December 2003–January 2004, no. 257 • 01 December 2003
In 1755 Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary of the English Language. In the preface, he laments the chaotic state of the language: ‘When I took the first survey of my undertaking, I found our speech copious without order, and energetic without rules; wherever I turned my view, there was perplexity to be disentangled and confusion to be regulated.’ He despaired at the scope and futility of ... (read more)

'Tampa' by Julian Burnside

October 2001, no. 235 • 01 October 2001
The episode of the refugees on the MV Tampa raised two separate problems, one moral, the other legal. To see both issues in perspective, it is useful to recall the facts that precipitated this unlikely crisis. The refugees, most of them claiming to be from Afghanistan, embarked on a boat in Indonesia and headed for Australia. It began to sink. The master of the Tampa, quite properly, rescued them ... (read more)