On Crimes and Punishments

by Cesare Beccaria

Overview

"Crimes are more effectually prevented by the certainty than the severity of punishment"

Originally published in 1764, Beccaria's treatise argued rationally against torture and death in the name of law and order. It was influential throughout Europe, leading to reforms in France and Tuscany.

Its influence is difficult to overstate. A later edition included an anonymous commentary by Voltaire, and translations such as this one were widely read by some of the world's greatest writers and academics: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, William Blackstone, William Eden and Jeremy Bentham, to name a few.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839193590
Publisher:	Ockham Publishing
Publication date:	06/29/2022
Series:	Ockham Classics , #5
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.51(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Treatise vii

A Note on the Text lvii

Biographical Note lxvii

Title Page 1

To the Reader 3

Introduction 7

§ I The Origin of Punishments 9

§ II The Right to Punish 11

§ III Implications So Far 13

§ IV The Interpretation of Laws 15

§ V The Obscurity of the Laws 17

§ VI The Proportion between Crime and Punishment 19

§ VII Errors in the Measurement of Crime 23

§ VIII The Classification of Crimes 25

§ IX Honor 27

§ X Duels 29

§ XI Disturbing the Peace 31

§ XII The Purpose of Punishment 33

§ XIII On Witnesses 35

§ XIV Evidence and Forms of Judgment 37

§ XV Secret Accusations 39

§ XVI Torture 41

§ XVII Revenue Authorities 47

§ XVIII Oaths 49

§ XIX Prompt Punishment 51

§ XX Violent Crimes 53

§ XXI Punishing Nobles 55

§ XXII Theft 57

§ XXIII Public Condemnation 59

§ XXIV Political Indolence 61

§ XXV Banishment and Confiscation 63

§ XXVI On the Spirit of the Family 65

§ XXVII The Mildness of Punishments 69

§ XXVIII The Punishment of Death 71

§ XXIX Preventive Detention 77

§ XXX Criminal Proceedings and the Statute of Limitations 81

§ XXXI Crimes Difficult to Prove 83

§ XXXII Suicide 87

§ XXXIII Smuggling 91

§ XXXIV Debtors 93

§ XXXV Sanctuaries 95

§ XXXVI Bounties 97

§ XXXVII Attempts, Accomplices, Pardons 99

§ XXXVIII Suggestive Interrogations, Depositions 101

§ XXXIX On a Particular Kind of Crime 103

§ XL False Ideas of Utility 105

§ XLI How to Prevent Crimes 107

§ XLII On theSciences 109

§ XLIII Judges 113

§ XLIV Rewards 115

§ XLV Education 117

§ XLVI On Pardons 119

§ XLVII Conclusion 121

Endnotes 123

References 149