Hendrik Constantijn Cras (4 January 1739,

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

– 5 April 1820,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) was a Dutch jurist and city

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

of Amsterdam. He studied law in Leiden. For nearly fifty years, beginning in 1771, he taught all fields of legal study at the Athenaeum Illustre in Amsterdam. His work mirrors the decline of the significance of

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

in legal practice. Beginning his career as an adherent of Roman law, Cras became a fundamental supporter 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 ...

and legal codification towards the end of the 18th century. Noted for his focus on general principles of law, his lengthy publications on the principles of

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

and

liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

had nonetheless little lasting impact. In 1798, Cras rose to prominence as the leading member of a commission charged with drafting national codes of law. The draft codes, published in 1804, appeared overly

dogmatic Dogma, in its broadest sense, is any belief held definitively and without the possibility of reform. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Judaism, Catholic Church, Roman Catholicism, Protes ...

and as a result never became law.

References

* 1739 births 1820 deaths Dutch jurists People from Leiden {{Netherlands-law-bio-stub