Section 40C(a) of the Penal Law states that the court will determine the appropriate punishment range in accordance with the social value that was violated, the guiding principle – the existence of an appropriate relationship between the severity of the offense in its circumstances, the degree of the defendant's guilt and the degree of punishment imposed on him (the principle of proportionality), and the customary sentencing policy. This was discussed by the Honorable Justice Noam Sohlberg inCrim. Appeal 8641/12 Sa'ad v. State of Israel, (published in Nevo, 2013, hereinafter: the Sa'ad case), in which Amendment 113 was discussed, quoting from the words of the Rambam in Guide of the Perplexed, Part 3, chapter 41 (paragraph 19 of his judgment):
"Know that the magnitude of the punishment and the material of its injury or its minimum, and the ease of its tolerance, will be in the form of four things: one, the severity of the offense. For acts that result in great loss are severely punished, and acts that result in a slight loss and a small loss are punished severely. The second is the multiplicity of their existence. The things that are more common must be prevented with severe punishment, but the few of the reality – a light punishment with a few of them is sufficient to prevent them. And third, the magnitude of the boldness involved. This is because the thing that a person has the courage to do, whether because lust is very attractive to him, or because of the validity of the habit or the great sorrow of his departure, will not prevent him, even if he fears something great. and the fourth, the ease of doing the same action in concealment and concealment so that others will not notice it, for the deterrence from this will be nothing but the fear of a severe and severe punishment."
He further clarified (in paragraph 20 of his judgment) that:
"Among the various punitive objectives, Amendment 113 gives primacy, although not exclusivity, to the principle of adequacy, which is – the principle of retribution ... According to this principle, the appropriate punishment for the offender is derived from the degree of his guilt and the severity of his actions."