In this essay, I try to overview the penal theory of Andrew von Hirsch. His theory can be summarized in two areas. On the one hand, he asserted the purpose of national penal system had got to be back to ‘just desert’, which means a serious criticism against ‘rehabilitation’, a dominant penal policy during the 20th century. On the other, he maintained the proportionality and reduction of the amount of punishment. However, in reality, his theory has been used for the strict penal policy of neo-liberal regime in Western countries. Because it seems to advocate the exclusion of marginal social class or unproductive people. This is the reason why we have to be very cautious in applying his theory to our society.