Jan Simon van der Aa

Dutch jurist, professor, and senior civil servant at the Ministry of Justice. He contributed to the development of, among other things, the Child Protection Act of 1901.

Van der Aa received his doctorate in 1890 from the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Gerard Anton van Hamel with his dissertation "De Rijksopvoedingsgestichten in Nederland" (The State Educational Institutions in the Netherlands). In 1906, he was appointed professor of philosophy of law, criminal law, and criminal procedure at the University of Groningen. The title of his inaugural address, delivered on 20 October 1906, was "De arbeid als element van de gevangensstraf" (Labour as an element of imprisonment). In 1912, the teaching of philosophy of law was transferred to Isaac Bennie Cohen. Van der Aa delivered his farewell address on 16 October 1926.

Jan Simon van der Aa died on 24 February 1944 at age 77 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The study association for criminal law and criminology at the University of Groningen is named after him.