The Constitutional Foundations of the Principle of Penal Proportionality in Case Law

Modern Criminal Law is based on foundational philosophical principles that were expressed during the French Revolution of 1789. However, it took a significant amount of time for these principles to acquire constitutional legal value. Penal proportionality, which had already been affirmed by the writings of César Beccaria in the eighteenth century, was not interpreted by constitutional justice until the mid-1980s, based on Article 8 of the Declaration of 1789.The constitutional judge recognizes that sentencing proportionality is not just a legislative matter but also a judicial responsibility. Concerning this, constitutional doctrine recognizes two conceptions of proportionality: Abstract Proportionality and Concrete Proportionality. The former involves imposing abstract proportionality between the penalty incurred and the offense defined in the law, taking into account the legal asset in question and the gravity of the harm suffered by society. Regarding the second conception, the focus is on imposing Concrete Proportionality between the sentence pronounced and the offense committed. In this case, the penalty is not solely determined by the gravity of the offense but also takes into consideration the specific circumstances of each individual case.