JUDr. Lumír Crha, státní zástupce, Nejvyšší státní zastupitelství, email: crha@nsz.brn.justice.cz
The paper summarizes views of the legal theory on the purpose of punishment. It deals with the retribution and utilitarian theories, and concludes that only mixed theories can be successfully implemented in practice. Furthermore, the author focuses on the issue of imprisonment in the Czech legislation. He believes that the purpose of this punishment changes in time. Therefore, he envisages it as a dynamic process. He concludes that the prosecutor as a body active in criminal proceedings must deal with the purpose of punishment according to both the retribution and utilitarian theories. However, when he controls the observance of legal regulations in places of imprisonment he can deal with the purpose of punishment only from the point of view of the utilitarian theory.