Giovanni Battista Cassinis

Giovanni Battista Cassinis (25 February 1806 – 18 December 1866) was a jurist of the Turin bar and a statesman in the Kingdom of Italy.

Early legal and political career Cassinis entered the chambers of the famous lawyer Prigione and established a name for himself in the theoretical analysis of law, publishing dissertations on the death penalty and the rights of the church. In 1830 he was invited to join the Collegio dei Dottori and also began to edit the Annals of Jurisprudence. then as representative of the Salussola constituency in the first legislature of the Subalpine Parliament.

Minister of Justice In 1860, under Cavour, Cassinis eventually became Minister of Justice, focusing his activity on the extension of the Piedmontese legal codes to the recently annexed provinces and on the development of a new Civil Code. Under his mandate, the proposal for a bill to combat brigandage was voted on.

In Turin, Cassinis is remembered with a statue located in the Piazza Arbarello which describes him as “Most upright of mind, most cultured of genius, in the Turin forum a capable jurist, in the Kingdom of Italy, a meritorious statesman who worthily held the offices of Keeper of the Seals, President of the Chamber of Deputies and Senator. He deserved and enjoyed universal esteem and respect.”

Honours