Let the punishment fit the crime
Meaning: Penalties should be proportional and appropriate to the offense committed.
Origin: From W.S. Gilbert's libretto for The Mikado (1885); the principle appears in ancient codes including Hammurabi's.
Translations
- French: Que la punition soit à la mesure du crime (literally: Let the punishment be proportionate to the crime)
- Spanish: Que el castigo sea proporcional al delito (literally: Let the punishment be proportional to the crime)
- Japanese: 罪に見合う罰を (Tsumi ni miau batsu wo) (literally: Let the punishment be commensurate with the crime)
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