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

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

whose work remains highly influential in modern

Roman-Dutch law Roman-Dutch law ( Dutch: ''Rooms-Hollands recht'', Afrikaans: ''Romeins-Hollandse reg'') is an uncodified, scholarship-driven, and judge-made legal system based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, ...

. Voet is one of the so-called "old authorities" of Roman-Dutch law, along with

Hugo Grotius Hugo Grotius ( ; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Hugo de Groot () or Huig de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft an ...

, 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, 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 List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

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

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Gisbertus Voetius Gisbertus Voetius ( Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet ; 3 March 1589 – 1 November 1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, pastor, and professor. Life He was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 16 ...

. 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; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. From 1680 to his death he was a professor and the chair of law at Leiden, being twice elected as rector. 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 beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The me ...

, 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 languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and not Dutch, as Latin at the time was the teaching language. Like Grotius, Voet relied upon the theory of

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

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, the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

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

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

and later of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, made much use of Voet's ''Commentary''. The philosopher

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

recalled being required to read Voet's ''Commentary'' while studying Law in Edinburgh. His other works include: * ''Compendiem juris adjectis differentiis Civilis et Canonici'' (1682) * ''Commentarius ad pandectas : in quo, praeter Romani juris principia ac controversias illustriores, jus etiam hodiernum et praecipuae fori quaestiones excutiuntur''; see also: * ''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'' () 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 of the second centu ...

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

References

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