This Friday there have been 42 sales that have taken place in Madrid, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands
MADRID, 20 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The number of those convicted of sexual crimes who have benefited from the new penalty framework included in the “only yes is yes” law amounts to at least 244, between lower sentence reviews and subsequent sentences in application of the norm . Since October 7, when the Penal Code reform came into force, the release of 19 people has been ordered. The last 42 penalty reductions have transpired this Friday have occurred in Madrid, the Valencian Community and the Canary Islands.
From the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of Madrid they have reported that in the courts of this autonomous community there are already 42 cases in which the prison sentences imposed on those convicted of sexual crimes under the Organic Law have been reviewed and reduced. Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom. This figure includes the 20 reductions that the body had already reported in November, so this Friday there are 22 new cases.
As specified by the Madrid Supreme Court, the Provincial Court of Madrid has reviewed ex officio 218 cases of sexual abuse and/or assault and 148 sentences at the request of a party. As a result of the review, in 11.2% of the cases the sentence has been reduced, while in 23.5% they have been dismissed; the remaining percentage is still pending.
This Friday’s count also includes an update of the sales registered in the Valencian Community. Sources of the TSJ in that community consulted by Europa Press have confirmed that they already account for some 33 cases of downward revisions, which include the 15 that were on the counter so far, so this Friday 18 new reductions are added.
On the sidelines, the Aragon Supreme Court has confirmed a new case in Zaragoza. The TSJ of the Canary Islands, for its part, has communicated a new reduction that has led to a release after the Provincial Court of Las Palmas has modified from 12 to 7 years the prison sentence imposed on the man convicted of a crime of sexual assault with the mitigation of drug addiction.
With the 42 new reductions recorded between Wednesday and Thursday, the number of those convicted of sexual crimes who have benefited from the ‘only yes is yes’ law has gone from 202 to 243 in one day. Last week the list registered 181 cases.
This same Friday, the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, regretted that the “only yes is yes” law did not have “the desired effects” and assured that in the field of transitional law the Government “thought that another type of response” in line with the proposal by the State Attorney General’s Office in the decree in which it interpreted its application.
As of January 20, sentence reviews and sentence reductions are confirmed in 17 autonomous communities. According to the data collected so far by Europa Press, there are 42 in Madrid, 35 in the Basque Country, 33 in the Valencian Community, 21 in Galicia, 20 in Andalusia, 18 in the Balearic Islands, 16 in Castilla y León, 13 in the Canary Islands, 12 in Asturias , 8 in Extremadura, 7 in Cantabria, 6 in the Supreme Court, 5 in Catalonia, 2 in Murcia, 2 in La Rioja, 2 in Aragón, 1 in Castilla-La Mancha and 1 in Navarra.
Of these 244 cases, 19 have led to the release of convicts: 6 from Madrid, 2 from the Balearic Islands, 2 from Galicia, 2 in the Valencian Community, 2 from Cantabria, 1 in Extremadura, 1 in Castilla y León, 1 in Asturias, 1 in the Canary Islands and 1 in the Basque Country –by order of the Supreme Court–.
Among the most substantial reductions registered, there are two in Cantabria in which the prison sentence was reduced by 7 years. Thus, those convicted went from sentences of 18 years to 11 years for a sexual assault on a young woman in a Santander hostel.
The cases recorded here represent a low estimate, since not all the Supreme Courts keep an up-to-date record of the number of reduction cases that are handed down in their courts.
In the 244 cases registered so far, the magistrates explain that these reviews and sentence reductions are made because the Criminal Code itself, in its article 2.2, establishes that the “most favorable” law must always be applied to the prisoner.
The law of ‘only yes is yes’ has caused the crime of sexual assault to absorb that of sexual abuse, which means that a crime that until now included a more serious conduct incorporates a less serious one, so that the criminal fork also It has been expanded to cover the full range of behaviors now punishable as sexual assault.
Thus, the legal sources consulted by Europa Press explain that the number of cases in which the discounts are applied will continue to grow due to the pending reviews in all the autonomous communities.
The Supreme Court assured in its ruling on the ‘Arandina case’ that the application of the Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom is “mandatory” because it is “more favorable” to the prisoner.
The high court had to make use of the penal modification when reviewing the sentence of the ‘Arandina case’ and sentenced two former players of that football club to 9 years in prison -and not 10, as requested by the Prosecutor. the law of ‘only yes is yes’.
The magistrates raised the sentences – from 4 and 3 years that the TSJ of Castilla y León had set – after eliminating the mitigation that had been appreciated due to the closeness of age and maturity between the convicted and the victim.
The Supreme Court has already reduced 6 prison sentences related to crimes of sexual assault since the reform of the Penal Code entered into force. One of them has led to a release in the Basque Country.
The sources consulted explain that, although the ‘Arandina case’ was a first manifestation, it does not serve to establish doctrine because it is a matter that was already pending an appeal and had legal elements to consider beyond the new law.
The same sources indicate that for the Supreme Court to clarify the rules of application of the ‘only yes is yes’ to final judgments, it will have to rule in the same sense in similar cases. And until they achieve it, it could take months, they point out.