67 Cri.Appeals 516, 281 n 468 of 2012.odt serves as the foundation of every criminal sentence rt that is justifiable. As a principle of criminal justice it is hardly less familiar or less important than the C ou principle that only the guilty ought to be punished. Indeed, the requirement that punishment need not be disproportionately great, which is a corollary of just desert, is dictated by the same principle that does not allow punishment of the innocent, for any punishment in excess of what is deserved for the criminal conduct 37. ig h is punishment without guilt. The criminal law adheres in general to the principle of proportionality in prescribing liability H according to the culpability of each kind of criminal conduct. It ordinarily allows some significant discretion to the Judge in arriving at a sentence in ba y each case, presumably, to permit sentences that reflect more subtle considerations of culpability that are raised by the special facts of each case. Judges in essence affirm that punishment ought always to fit B om the crime; yet in practice sentences are determined largely by other considerations. Sometimes it is the correctional needs of the perpetrator that are offered to justify a sentence. Sometimes the desirability of keeping him out of circulation, and sometimes even the traffic results of his crime. Inevitably, these considerations cause a departure from just desert as the basis of punishment and create cases of apparent injustice that are serious and widespread. 38. Proportion between crime and punishment is a goal respected in principle, and in spite of errant notions, it remains a strong influence in ::: Uploaded on - 08/03/2016 ::: Downloaded on - 13/03/2016 19:36:29 :::