''Cui bono?'' (), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
about identifying crime
suspect
In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the United States often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense (perp in dated U ...
s. It expresses the view that
crimes
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
are often committed to benefit their perpetrators, especially financially.
Usage
The phrase is a
double dative construction. It can also be rendered as ''cui prodest?'' ("whom does it profit?") and ''ad cuius bonum?'' ("for whose good?").
Background
Another example of Cicero using ''Cui bono'' is in his defence of Sextus Roscius, in the
Pro Roscio Amerino
''Pro Roscio Amerino'' is a defence speech given by Marcus Tullius Cicero on behalf of Sextus Roscius, a Roman citizen from the municipality of Amelia accused of murdering his father. Delivered in 80 BC, it was Cicero's first major public case. ...
, once again invoking Cassius as the source: "Let that maxim of Cassius apply."
[Cicero, Pro Roscius Amerino 32.3.]
American sociologist
Peter Blau
Peter Michael Blau (February 7, 1918 – March 12, 2002) was an American sociologist and theorist. Born in Vienna, Austria, he immigrated to the United States in 1939. He completed his PhD doctoral thesis with Robert K. Merton at Columbia Univers ...
has used the concept of ''cui bono'' to differentiate organizations by who has primarily benefited: owners; members; specific others; or the general society.
[Blau, Peter (1962). Formal Organizations.]
See also
*
Cherchez la femme
''Cherchez la femme'' () is a French phrase which literally means 'look for the woman'. It is a cliche in detective fiction, used to suggest that a mystery can be resolved by identifying a femme fatale or female love interest.
Origin of the ph ...
*
Follow the money
*
Milgram experiment
The Milgram experiment(s) on obedience to authority figures were a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. They measured the willingness of study participants, 40 men in the age range ...
*
Whodunit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...
General:
*
Brocard (law)
A brocard is a legal maxim in Latin that is, in a strict sense, derived from traditional legal authorities, even from ancient Rome. The word is a variant of the Latinized name of Burchard of Worms (died AD 1025), Bishop of Worms, Germany, who c ...
*
List of Latin phrases
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This is a list of Wikipedia articles of Latin phrases and their translation into English.
''To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see: List of Latin phrases (full)''
The list also is divided alphabetically into twenty page ...
*
List of legal Latin terms
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cui Bono
Adages
Criminology
Conflict of interest
Latin legal terminology