אֵין עוֹנְשִׁין מִין הַדִּין

ביטוי (אנגלית)

One does not punish by inference

הגדרה (אנגלית)

A legal principle stating that a person cannot be convicted or punished based on interpretations that are not the clear provisions of the law. Legal statutes must be clear and unambiguous, and it is not permissible to infer the existence of any prohibition using legal tools such as 'kal va-chomer' (a fortiori reasoning) or 'gezerah shavah' (analogy).

(And they disagree in the dispute (and they were divided in their disagreement) of Abaye and Rava. One holds: one punishes by inference, and the other holds: one does not punish by inference" - Sanhedrin 54a, and also: "It is a fundamental rule in criminal law: 'One does not punish by inference'... not from a fortiori reasoning, not from analogy, nor from any inference or analogy, but only from the written and enacted law. Only the law can make a certain act, with its defined elements, a criminal offense. What the law has not done in clear and explicit language, no interpretation, analogy, or logic can do. These are self-evident truths, and there is no need to elaborate" - Supreme Court in CrimA 205/73 Ross v. State of Israel, PD 27(2) 371)