The previous chapter, on apologies and forgiveness, essentially concerned the interpersonal aspect of retrospective responsibility. In this chapter I would like to return to the legal context. The state is not in a position to forgive, although it can show mercy – and we will be discussing mercy later on. But above all the state has the power and authority to hold someone responsible by punishing them for their crime. That is what this chapter is principally about. Slightly less formally, and with less draconian punishments at its disposal, a profession or a club can punish its members for an infraction of its rules. Even less formally, a teacher can punish her pupils, but this must be justified in terms of the school's educational goals. Finally, and least formally of all, a parent can punish his child. It is important to realize that conceptually, an individual – acting as an individual – cannot “punish” another individual, although of course she may blame him, be angry at him, hurt him, take revenge on him, and so on. The concept of punishment presupposes some sort of institutional relationship between the punisher and the punished, where this relationship provides the punisher with the necessary authority to impose harsh treatment. (Even a family is an institution in this sense.) In what follows I shall be mainly discussing the criminal law in a modern liberal democratic state, and only occasionally discussing other fora where punishment can be imposed.