Robert-Joseph Pothier

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Engraving by Pothier

Robert-Joseph Pothier (born January 9, 1699 in Orléans , † March 2, 1772 ibid) was a French legal scholar . Influenced by the doctrine of natural law , he campaigned for a reorganization of Roman legal material.

life and work

Contrary to his own tendencies and at the request of his mother studied Pothier after attending a Jesuit college law , rather than join a religious order. In 1720, at the age of 21, he was appointed to the presidential judge in Orléans, which had previously been his father. He exercised this office conscientiously and with great respect until his death. In addition, he ran a private law firm, in which he offered fellow citizens and colleagues free legal advice. He was active in all areas of law with the exception of criminal law, whose torture methods he detested. In 1743 he was elected to the council of the domain chamber, in 1746 to the magistrate official.

Protected by Chancellor Henri François d'Aguesseau , Pothier was soon offered a professorship in Paris. However, he turned down this offer in favor of Orléans, where he took over the chair of French law at the local university after the death of Prévôt de la Jannès in 1749. He offered the professor's fee to which he was entitled as a prize for outstanding student performance and thus contributed significantly to the flourishing of the Orléans Law Faculty.

Pothier's “traités” , 1767

Pothier initially researched Roman law , as he had recognized its importance for French law. In his work Pandectae Justinianeae in novum ordinem digestae he gave the Pandects a fundamentally new system and condensed the confusing matter to the essentials. In addition, he tried to resolve any contradictions within the text through his own contributions. Pothier later devoted himself to French law, initially to droit coutumier (common law ). After a first analysis of 1740 ( "Coutume d'Orléans" ), he methodically compared French customary law with Roman law in a second edition. His “traités” , in which he dealt with mutual contracts, which are barely covered by customary law, must be regarded as the best-known and most important work of Pothier . Pothier's textbooks on contract law were instrumental in creating the Civil Code . In some cases, passages from the traités were taken literally. Through his work, Pothier brought French and Roman law to a common denominator for the first time and thus achieved a certain degree of amalgamation of the two matters, which had a decisive effect on the coming legislation throughout Europe.

Works (selection)

Coutumes des duchè, bailliage et prévôté d'Orléans, et ressort d'iceux , 1772
  • Coutume d'Orléans (Orléans, 1740, second edition 1760).
  • Pandectae Justinianeae in novum ordinem digestae (Pandectes de Justinien) , Paris, 1748–52, 3 editions
  • Traité des obligations , Orléans, 1761, second edition 1764
  • Traité du contrat de vente, selon les règles tant du for de la conscience que du for extérieur , Paris / Orléans, 1762
  • Traité des Retraits, pour servir d'Appendice au Traité du Contrat de Vente , 1762
  • Traité du Contrat de Mariage , Paris: chez de Bure, and Orléans: chez la Veuve Rouzeau-Montaut, 1771
  • Traités sur différentes matières du droit civil , Orléans, 1781

literature

  • Gerd Kleinheyer and Jan Schröder: German and European lawyers from new centuries . 5th edition. CF Müller, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8252-0578-2 , pp. 321-323 .
  • A.-J. Arnaud, Les origines doctrinales du Code civil français , Paris, LGDJ, 1969
  • J. Monéger (Ed ..), Robert-Joseph Pothier, d'hier à aujourd'hui , Paris, Economica, 2001.
  • J.-L. Thireau, “Pothier et la doctrine française des XVIe et XVIIe siècles”, in J. Monéger (ed.), Robert-Joseph Pothier, d'hier à aujourd'hui , Paris, Economica, 2001, pp. 35–54.
  • J.-L. Sourioux, “Pothier ou le sphinx d'Orléans”, under Droits , n ° 39, 2004, pp. 69–75.
  • D. Gilles et É. Gojosso, “Sur Pothier et le Code civil”, dans O. Vernier (REd.), Étude d'histoire du droit privé en souvenir de Maryse Carlin , Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, éditions La Mémoire du droit, 2008, p. 403 -417.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jan Dirk Harke : Roman law. From the classical period to the modern codifications . Beck, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-406-57405-4 ( floor plans of the law ), § 3 no. 4 and 7.
personal data
SURNAME Pothier, Robert-Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French legal scholar
DATE OF BIRTH January 9, 1699
PLACE OF BIRTH Orleans
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1772
Place of death Orleans