Proportional justice
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Within law, the principle of proportionality is used to describe the idea that the punishment of a certain crime should be in proportion to the severity of the crime itself. In practice, systems of law differ greatly on the application of this principle. In some systems, this was interpreted as the Lex talionis, an eye for an eye. In others, it has led to a more restrictive manner of sentencing. For example, all European Union countries have codified that no crime can warrant the death penalty, whereas other countries in the world do use it.
In ethics and law, Let the punishment fit the crime is the principle that the severity of penalty for a misdeed or wrongdoing should be reasonable and proportional to the severity of the infraction. The judgment of whether a punishment is appropriately severe can be very subjective. The alternative to this principle is to make the punishment "too severe" for reasons of vengeance, retribution, deterrence, or problem elimination, or to make the punishment "too lenient" in the hopes that the wrongdoer will amend his ways or is little threat to commit an offense again.
The concept is common to most cultures throughout the world. Its presence in the ancient Jewish culture is shown by its inclusion in the law of Moses, specifically in Deuteronomy 19:17-21, which includes the punishments of "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." The U.S. Constitution includes a ban on "cruel and unusual punishment." Many other documents reflect this value in the world's cultures.
The English phrase itself comes from is taken from Gilbert and Sullivan's 1885 comic opera The Mikado:
- My object all sublime,
- I shall achieve in time,
- To make the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime!
[edit] See also
 |
This law-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
