page_title: John Ricus Couperus
section_title: Career as a lawyer
hierarchical_section_title: John Ricus Couperus / Biography / Career as a lawyer
context_page_description: John Ricus Couperus was a Dutch lawyer, member of the Council of Justice in Padang and member of the High Military Court of the Dutch East Indies. He was also the father of the Dutch writer Louis Couperus and knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.
context_section_description: Couperus studied law at the University of Leiden, where he achieved his Master of Laws. He received his PhD on the thesis De conditione servorum apud romanos (Concerning the condition of slaves in the Roman Empire); during this period of his life acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies Pieter Merkus (1787–1844) had great influence on Couperus. Couperus left for the Dutch East Indies in 1837 and arrived in November 1837 by steamboat Castor from Batavia at Surabaya. On 1 January 1838 he was appointed tax official in this town. On 20 September 1839 he was made available to the Governmental Commissioner (Pieter Merkus, who then was appointed government commissioner at the Westcoast of Sumatra). In October 1839 Couperus joined the military campaign against Kota Gedang, which was commanded by general Andreas Victor Michiels. He was appointed official ("controleur") third class in April 1840 and was allocated to the Department of Rural Income and Cultures. By Royal Decree of 22 April 1842 Couperus was appointed senior civil officer and appointed secretary and revenue assistant at the court in the Batavia Department. In the position of legal assistant in October 1844 Couperus was placed at the Court of Justice in Padang and also appointed as an official for military affairs. During the time Couperus spent at Padang, he lived in a house at an intersection of three roads, between Padang and Pau. Here he was an eyewitness to a fight where part of an infantry platoon was attacked by a large group of armed natives and killed. Padang was called to a state of emergency and in his position as an official of military affairs Couperus ordered an investigation. It seemed that local people were revolting due to priests who were putting them up against the Dutch government. Additional military troops were ordered and arrived in time to beat the revolt.
  In a brochure Couperus wrote about the Dutch presence in the Dutch East Indies: Life for the Dutch in the Indies is not just living like a farmer but also living on the basis of "le droit du plus fort" (the right of the strongest). This situation can only be controlled by a moral and military dominance. It is a domination which places the weaker in an unnatural position and makes it impossible to apply the unconstrained usual Dutch politics in the Dutch East Indies. In August 1846 Couperus was appointed as a member of the Court of Justice in Batavia. In November Couperus temporarily replaced jhr. D.A. Junius van Hemert as a tax official in the Western Department of the Dutch East Indies and in May 1848 he was appointed member at the Board of Justice (Raad van Justitie) in Batavia. Couperus was appointed court clerk at the supreme court of the Dutch East Indies in April 1849 and in December 1850 promoted to the position of counselor at the supreme court. In May 1854 he was also appointed member of the supreme court (until July 1859) and obtained a leave for two years to Europe in February 1860. Back in the Netherlands Couperus was appointed knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He was honorably discharged as counselor of the Supreme Court in June 1862 (Royal Order of 23 June 1862 number 51).
caption: Pieter Merkus (1787–1844), acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies had great influence on Couperus
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