He sought an answer to the question of how fair justice should be: Who is Cesare Beccaria?

(1738-1794) Italian lawyer and economist. He is known for his reformist ideas on criminology.

Cesare Bonesana Marchese di Beccaria was born on March 15, 1738 in Milan. He died on 28 November 1794 in Milan. He was the son of a noble family. In 1758, he received his doctorate in law from the University of Padova. In 1761 he joined a group of young intellectuals and reformers in northern Italy. In 1762 Milan published an essay on the reform of the monetary system. Between 1768 and 1771 he taught economic policy at the Palatine School in Milan. In 1771 he was appointed to the Milan High Economic Council. He held various public positions until his death.

French and English Enlightenment thinkers, especially Montesquieu, had a great influence on the intellectual development of Beccaria. Through Alessandro Verri, who works in Beccaria Milan Prison and is a close friend, he had the opportunity to get to know this institution and the understanding of punishment of the period in which he lived. In his book titled “On Crime and Punishment” published in 1764, he opposed the criminal law practices of the period, arrests without justification, limited defense opportunities, and torture methods.

Starting from the utilitarian principle of "the most benefit for the greatest number", Beccaria argued that the purpose of punishment is the protection of society by preventing or reducing crime. As a result of this proposition, he argued that the punishment should be given in proportion to the crime committed. The criterion to determine the importance of crime is the degree of danger to society.

According to Beccaria, in order to reduce the rate of crime in society, it is necessary to amend and publish the laws, and to expand education. The method of the secret trial should be abolished, and the accused should be punished in proportion to the social harm after all the necessary opportunities for his defense are provided. Beccaria suggested that crimes against property should be fined, commuted to imprisonment if the criminal failed to pay, and political crimes should be punished by exile. Beccaria defended life imprisonment by opposing the death penalty, and talked about the necessity of improving the conditions in prisons, classifying the criminals within certain criteria, and separating them.

Beccaria set forth his economic thoughts in his book "Elements of Public Economics", which was published in 1804, consisting of lecture notes he gave in the period 1769-1770. Beccaria first defended the mercantilist economic policy and later adopted the views of the Physiocrats, who regarded agriculture as the only productive sector. Beccaria advocated the abolition of guilds and free trade within national states. However, it has not been in favor of full freedom in foreign trade. In his public duties, he worked with Pietro Verri and G.R. on grain trade, money, and tax. He helped Carli's economic reforms.

Beccaria studied the relationship between population growth and resources and worked on value theory. Beccaria was the first lawyer to advocate the abolition of the death penalty. With his reformist views on criminal law, he greatly influenced many contemporary jurists, especially Sonnenfels of Austria, Renazzi and Filangieri of Italy, and Blackstone, Howard, Bentham, and Romilly of England. II in Prussia. Frederick II in Russia. Katerina benefited from Beccaria's ideas in the reorganization of criminal law. In the USA, Beccaria's works were used especially in the creation of the penal code of the State of Pennsylvania.

WORKS (mainly):

Dei delini e delle pene, 1764,

Elementi di economia puhhlica, 1804.