ORS 161.025: Purposes; principles of construction.

(1) The general purposes of chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, are:

      (a) To insure the public safety by preventing the commission of offenses through the deterrent influence of the sentences authorized, the correction and rehabilitation of those convicted, and their confinement when required in the interests of public protection.

      (b) To forbid and prevent conduct that unjustifiably and inexcusably inflicts or threatens substantial harm to individual or public interests.

      (c) To give fair warning of the nature of the conduct declared to constitute an offense and of the sentences authorized upon conviction.

      (d) To define the act or omission and the accompanying mental state that constitute each offense and limit the condemnation of conduct as criminal when it is without fault.

      (e) To differentiate on reasonable grounds between serious and minor offenses.

      (f) To prescribe penalties which are proportionate to the seriousness of offenses and which permit recognition of differences in rehabilitation possibilities among individual offenders.

      (g) To safeguard offenders against excessive, disproportionate or arbitrary punishment.

      (2) The rule that a penal statute is to be strictly construed shall not apply to chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, or any of its provisions. Chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, shall be construed according to the fair import of its terms, to promote justice and to effect the purposes stated in subsection (1) of this section.