Cui bono? (Classical Latin:[kui̯ˈbɔnoː]), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is aLatinphrase about identifying crimesuspects. It depends on the fact thatcrimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators; especially financially.
The phrase is adouble dative construction. It can also be rendered ascui prodest? ("whom does it profit?") andad cuius bonum? ("for whose good?").
L. Cassius ille, quem populus Romanus verissimum et sapientissimum iudicem putabat, identidem in causis quaerere solebat, cui bono fuisset?
Lucius Cassius, whom the Roman people used to regard as a most honest and most wise judge, was in the habit of asking time and again in lawsuits: "to whom might it be for a benefit?"
Cicero used the expressionCui bono in his 'Second Philippic', once again invoking Cassius as the source: "... adopt that maxim of Cassius: To whose advantage was it?"[2]
American sociologistPeter Blau has used the concept ofcui bono to differentiate organizations depending on who has primarily benefited: owners; members; specific others; or the general society.[3]
General: