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In practice, reasoned verdicts reveal the tension between the explicit and the implicit, between what is said and what is not, with reasoning practices often being governed by unavowed arguments, in particular of a sociological nature. In this process, there are also intimate links between the legitimacy of the body handing down the verdict and the terms of its reasoning. Traditionally, an authority does not justify itself : it is better not to give any reasons at all or, at the very least, to keep those reasons as brief as possible. But a change of paradigm is underway, against the backdrop of a redefinition of democratic legitimacy : the care taken in drafting detailed and patiently argued reasoning becomes a fundamental component of persuasion, without which no punishment can ever be perceived as legitimate.