Furthermore, we have to reckon, at this point, with the institutions of punishment, penance and pardon. They have many functions, important among which is the fixing of deadlines by which an affair is closed and thus offers no further legitimate occasion for distrust. Moreover, centralizing the right of punishment within the system has the function in 'difficult' cases of interrupting the circle of increasing distrust.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 276