Meanings
- uncountablelawlegal philosophy under which penal redress to crime should only be used as a measure of last resort
1 more example
Since punishment (including death and prison in the United States) is the harshest type of public measure or burden that the state may take or impose against an individual and the state has the duty to consider the rights and interests of all people involved or affected by a situation (including those who cause harm), the ultima ratio principle requires that less harmful responses or measures, including noncriminal ones, be adopted if those responses or measures would adequately advance a legitimate goal such as addressing harmful behavior.
2020, Máximo Langer, “Penal Abolitionism and Criminal Law Minimalism: Here and There, Now and Then”, in Harvard Law Review, volume 134, number 42, page 73
Origin
- Latin[Term?]
- Englishultima ratio
From Latin [Term?].
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ultima ratio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultima%20ratio
“ultima ratio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultima%20ratio. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ultima ratio,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ultima%20ratio.
Source: ultima ratio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.