Johannes Christiaan de Wet

Johannes Christiaan de Wet (13 October 1912–1990) was South Africa's most influential jurist and teacher of law.

Biography De Wet was a farmer's son and grew up in Aliwal North and Maclear.

Through his work, de Wet enhanced the status of his native Afrikaans by making it a language of scientific legal discourse. His influence particularly on the law of contracts and on penal law was immense. De Wet was known for his acerbic and often amusing criticism of judgments and has been described by Edwin Cameron as the "enfant terrible of the judiciary". This undeferential style, together with his intellectual approach, characterised by critical rationalism and self-assurance, had a liberating impact in the intellectual climate of apartheid-era South Africa.

De Wet was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Cape Town and the Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg).