Johannes Voet, also known as John Voet (3 October 1647 – 11 September 1713) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

jurist whose work remains highly influential in modern Roman-Dutch law. Voet is one of the so-called "old authorities" of Roman-Dutch law, along with Hugo Grotius, Simon van Leeuwen (nl), Joan Cos,

Gerhard Noodt Gerhard Noodt (4 September 1647 – 15 August 1725) was a Dutch jurist, born in Nijmegen. Educated at Leiden, Utrecht, and Franeker, he became a professor of law at the Nijmegen and the Franeker. As a writer on jurisprudence he acquired a wide r ...

, Zacharias Huber,

Cornelius van Bynkershoek Cornelis van Bijnkershoek (a.k.a. ''Cornelius van Bynkershoek'') (29 May 1673, in Middelburg – 16 April 1743, in The Hague) was a Dutch jurist and legal theorist who was educated at the University of Franeker. After two years study, he began to ...

, Hobins van der Vorm, Gerloff Scheltinga (de), Willem Schorer (nl), Franciscus Lievens Kersteman, J. Munniks, Hendrik Jan Arntzenius (fr), Arent Lybrechts, Johan Jacob van Hasselet, Gerard de Haas, Cornelis Willem Decker, Didericus Lulius, Renier van Spaan, Dionysius Godefridus van der Keessel, and Johan van der Linden.

Life

Voet was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

, the son of Paulus Voet, who was the son of famous

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Gisbertus Voetius Gisbertus Voetius ( Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet ; 3 March 1589 – 1 November 1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian. Life He was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 1611 became Protestant pas ...

. He probably studied in Utrecht, after which he became a professor in Herborn. In 1673 he was made professor of law at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. From 1680 to his death he was a professor and the chair of law at Leiden, being twice elected as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. He was a deacon in the Dutch Reformed Church and later worked for the Church as an accountant. He died in

Work

Voet's most famous work is his ''Commentarius ad Pandectas'' (i.e. ''Commentary on the Digest'') (1698). Unlike other jurists of his day, Voet's Commentary on the Digest was not a mere academic treatise but also an attempt to show how that law applied day-to-day in practice. While the Commentary shows signs of legal

humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

, it may also be considered a Dutch form of '' Usus modernus Pandectarum''. Unlike the work of Hugo Grotius and Simon van Leeuwen with which Voet's Commentary has been compared, Voet, as a teacher of law, wrote in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and not

, as Latin at the time was the teaching language. Like Grotius, Voet relied upon the theory of

natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...

as the basis for his systematization of the law. In the 19th century, Voet's Commentary was translated into German. It is still an important source of

South African law South Africa has a 'hybrid' or legal pluralism, 'mixed' legal system, formed by the interweaving of a number of distinct legal traditions: a civil law (legal system), civil law system inherited from Dutch Empire, the Dutch, a common law system ...

, the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

of which is Roman-Dutch. Sir Henry de Villiers, Chief Justice of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

and later of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, made much use of Voet's Commentary. His other works include: * ''Compendiem juris adjectis differentiis Civilis et Canonici'' (1682) * ''De Usufructu'' (1704) * ''Elementa juris secundum ordinem Inst. Justiniani'' (translated into Dutch as ''De Beginzels des Rechts'', that is, ''The Principles of the Law'') – a commentary on the

Institutes of Justinian The ''Institutes'' ( la, Institutiones) is a component of the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', the 6th-century codification of Roman law ordered by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It is largely based upon the ''Institutes'' of Gaius, a Roman jurist o ...

. * ''De familia erciscunda'' * ''De jure Militari'' * ''De Tutoribus''

External links

Johannis Voet Commentarius ad pandectas dl 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voet, Johannes 1647 births 1713 deaths Dutch legal scholars Utrecht University faculty Leiden University faculty Utrecht University alumni People from Utrecht (city)