The Influence of Beccaria in Modern Criminal Law

“On Crimes and Punishments” by Cesar Beccaria is a fundamental work for modern Criminal Law. The ideas of liberal Criminal Law are presented throughout the book and the basis of philosophy used as a criteria, clearly reappears in Western thought by the middle of the 18th Century. Beccaria is one of the first authors that actually criticize the inquisitive system and canonical law from a philosophical and Criminal Law point of view. The author criticizes capital punishment, tortures to the accused and concludes that prevention should be the final objective of punishment