At least seven provincial hearings distance themselves from the Prosecutor's Office and set to review sentences for sexual offenders

MADRID, 25 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

At least seven provincial courts have already ruled in favor of applying the criteria most favorable to the accused in reviews of convictions of sexual offenders after the entry into force of the 'only yes is yes' law.

This contrasts with the criteria established last Monday by the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, who issued a decree for prosecutors establishing that sentences will not be modified when they can be imposed with the new criminal framework. This criterion would avoid an "automatic" reduction of sentences.

But the provincial courts of Madrid, Valladolid, Vizcaya, Granada, Córdoba, Málaga or Zaragoza have unified criteria in different conclaves and all of them agree to continue betting on reductions in sentences to adjust them to the new legal framework and, it follows, without taking into account the Fifth Transitory Provision of the Penal Code of 1995 that limits the revisions.

Thus, this Friday, the Provincial Court of Madrid, in a meeting attended by the presidents of the criminal sections, has decided to apply these revisions after putting the matter to a vote. The result has been 32 votes in favour, eight against and nine abstentions.

In the case of the Provincial Court of Valladolid, its president, Javier Carranza, has indicated this Friday that they will review on a case-by-case basis those sentences in which, retroactively, the new reform of the Penal Code could be applied to those convicted.

This Friday, the magistrates of the three criminal sections of the Vizcaya Provincial Court have also met, under the presidency of Reyes Goenaga, and have agreed to review ex officio all convictions of sexual offenders based on the new law.

Of course, with the exception of cases in which the convicted have obtained the suspension of the sentence and are not in prison. The reviews will be made on a case-by-case basis, the opinion of all the parties involved will be requested, and uninvited victims will be spared "useless procedures that could harm them."

On November 22, one day after the FGE set its criteria, the president of the Provincial Court of Zaragoza, Alfonso Ballestín, indicated that after meeting with the rest of the magistrates to establish a position, they opted to apply the most favorable norm. to the offender in attention to article 2 of the Penal Code.

Thus, he explained that when the maximum penalty has been imposed "the maximum of the current reform should be put and the corresponding part reduced." Regarding the minimum, he said: "If now it is lower, we will apply the current norm because we consider that it is more favorable to the prisoner than the previous one." MALAGA, CORDOBA AND GRANADA

The five criminal sections of the Malaga Court have also reported that they are beginning to analyze sentences ex officio to see whether or not it is appropriate to carry out a review after the 'only yes is yes' law. They warn that it will be done studying "case by case".

The president of that hearing, Lourdes García Ortiz, has explained to the journalists that the first thing that will be done is to analyze the cases in execution of prisoners who are serving their sentence "to see if it is susceptible to being reviewed or not with respect to this law which in some aspects has lowered the sentence".

In the same way, the magistrates of the two Criminal Sections of the Provincial Court of Granada have agreed to review ex officio the final sentences of those convicted of sexual crimes to, as indicated by other hearings, apply in these cases "the provision that is most favorable to the prisoner".

Likewise, the Provincial Court of Córdoba, as reported on Wednesday, will review ex officio the sentences for crimes against sexual freedom that can be modified by the retroactive application of the most favorable sentence for the prisoner.

For its part, the Provincial Court of Almería will bring together the magistrates of the Second and Third Section next Monday in a criminal sector plenary session with the aim of unifying criteria. LA RIOJA AND LAS PALMAS

Faced with these decisions, the Provincial Court of La Rioja announced last week that it was accepting the transitory provision of the Penal Code to not modify any of the 54 sentences that have already been reviewed after the new Law on the Guarantee of Sexual Freedom.

The president of the Superior Court of Justice of La Rioja, Javier Marca, explained in an interview on Onda Cero, collected by Europa Press, that although they have officially reviewed the sentences for crimes against sexual freedom that may be modified by the new law Until now, they have not modified any of the sentences because in none of the cases has the Public Prosecutor reported favorably.

This decision, as he explained, is taken because in all cases the penalty that had been imposed is "perfectly taxable" under the new legislation.

For its part, the sectoral board of magistrates of the criminal sections of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, this same Friday has determined that final sentences for sexual crimes will only be reviewed ex officio when it is detected that the sentence imposed is greater than those contemplated. in the new norm. Thus, it goes in line with the FGE.