Sir John Gilbert Kotzé
KC (5 November 1849 – 1 April 1940) was a South African jurist.
Early life
Kotzé was born in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
and was given the Christian names of Johannes Gysbert Blanckenberg, but he used the anglicized form, John Gilbert. He was educated at
Tot Nut van het Algemeen
Tot Nut van het Algemeen (''trans.'' 'For the good of all'), commonly known as Tot Nut, was a Dutch-medium school in Cape Town from 1804 to 1870.
Description
The school catered for all nationalities and played an important role in educating the D ...
and the
South African College
The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS).
History
The process that would lead to the formation of th ...
in Cape Town.
His father was
Petrus Johannes Kotzé, who owned the
Leeuwenhof
Leeuwenhof is an estate in the Gardens area of Cape Town, South Africa. It is the official residence of the Premier of the Western Cape. Leeuwenhof was originally a farmhouse dating to the time of the Dutch East India Company's rule of Cape Town ...
estate at the foot of
Table Mountain
Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa.
It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...
and represented Cape Town in two Parliaments, as a member of the House of Assembly, and was twice
Mayor of Cape Town
The mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), Metropolitan Municipality.
The mayoral position w ...
.
[ Family History CH 1] His brother, Rev J.J. Kotzé (older by 17 years), studied for the Church. It was recorded he was a distinguished student at
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 ...
, where he graduated summa cum laude and shared the distinction of being the best classical scholar at the university.
The earlier written records of the Kotzé family in Germany date back as far as the year 1234 and indicate the family is of
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Gr ...
descent.
The spelling of the family name (in Africa) changes from Kotzee as reflected last in 1912 (in the document Master of the Supreme Court re: Johannes Albertus Kotzee) to finally Kotzé in 1916 (in the hand of Salmon Jacobus Petrus Kotzé).
Kotzé undertook further legal training in Britain as a student at the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where he met his wife Mary Aurelia Bell.
[Foster's Our Noble and Gentle Families of Royal Descent, 1887, pp. 670 and 676.] Kotzé became a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...
and practised in Cape Town and
Grahamstown
Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...
from 1874 to 76.
Judicial career
Kotzé was appointed judge of the High Court of the
Transvaal
Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
in 1877, becoming Chief Justice in 1881. He, together with the rest of the High Court, was unceremoniously dismissed by
Paul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...
following a dispute over the Testing Rights issue. Kotze had stood in 1893 as a rival to Kruger in the presidential elections and was seen by Kruger as his long term political rival. Kruger, on this particular occasion, was enraged at the judgement of the High Court in the case of Brown v. Leyds and he dismissed Chief Justice Kotzé in 1898 as
President Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Presiden ...
held his own opinion on the case outcome. The circumstances surrounding this judgement are worth exploring as they are illustrative of the Legal and general state of public administration in the Transvaal at the time during the British Rule and the Volksraad's Constitution, a "document born of political compromise between warring factions rather than any kind of coherent legal document". The Constitution was seen as "so vague and obscure in so many areas that it had never been treated with the seriousness and respect which such a document usually merits.
Kruger's action was widely seen as unwarranted interference with the independence of the judiciary." The
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
soon followed in 1899, with every Boer town in the hands of the British, "President Kruger fled/went in exile in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
". Over 26,000 women and children were to perish in the War's concentration camps.
In 1898 Kotzé resumed legal practice in
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
. He was appointed
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
of
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
[''Holders of Administrative and Ministerial Office 1894–1964'' by F.M.G. Willson and G.C. Passmore (Source Book no. 3, Department of Government, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury, 1966)] in 1900, and
took silk
A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...
as King's Counsel in April 1902.
He was appointed judge of the Eastern Districts Court 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 ...
in 1903, he became Judge-President of that division in 1904. He was then appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the
Cape Provincial Division
The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...
in 1913, becoming Judge-President in 1920. When Justice
Christian Maasdorp
Christian George Maasdorp (11 June 1848 – 21 May 1926) was a South African jurist and Judge of Appeal.
Early life and education
Maasdorp was the son of Gysbert Henry Maasdorp, a medical doctor, and his wife, Anna Maria Hartzenberg and the youn ...
retired in 1922, Kotzé became Judge of Appeal, starting in 1922 until his retirement in 1927.
To conclude some historic career highlights, it is noted in a nutshell by the
Supreme Court of Appeal Homepage that:
"the judicial career of Sir John Gilbert Kotzé (1849–1940) spanned 50 years from his appointment in 1877, when he was a mere 27 years old, until his retirement in 1927. As chief justice of the Transvaal Republic he was dismissed by President Kruger when he held that the courts had the right to test against the Constitution, and declare invalid, resolutions and acts passed by the legislature."
To date, Books of "Latin and High Dutch of the Roman-Dutch ''old authorities'' is occasionally still used, as at times it is necessary for a modern judge to delve into these ''old authorities'' to search for the origin and scope of an otherwise obscure legal rule or doctrine."
Honours and awards
Kotzé was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a knighthood ...
in February 1917.
Judge Kotzé's personal book collection of over 1500 books, is still to date referred to and used by the Supreme Court of Appeal Judges. It is said of Kotzé:
"A noted scholar, a man of immense learning and a collector of books, his collection of 1556 titles, bought by the government in 1927 for £800, formed the nucleus of the then fledgling library of the Appellate Division, and is still retained as a separate collection."
A bust of Kotzé, by E Grace Wheatley, is located with the collection.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotze, John Gilbert
1849 births
1940 deaths
People from Cape Town
Transvaal Colony judges
Cape Colony judges
South African Queen's Counsel
South African Knights Bachelor
20th-century South African judges
Members of the Inner Temple
20th-century King's Counsel
South African judges