by Dirk Verhofstadt (Author)

Two hundred and fifty years ago, in 1764, Italian philosopher and legal scholar Cesare Beccaria wrote the treatise Dei delitti e delle pene (On crimes and punishments). This book has had a huge impact on our criminal law. Beccaria has substantially contributed to the humanization of criminal law by ridding it of arbitrariness, abuse of power, and religious dogmas. He set a movement in motion that led to the abolition of torture and the death penalty in many countries. This led him to be one of the most influential representatives of the Enlightenment.