A dozen provincial hearings distance themselves from the Prosecutor's Office and set to review sentences for sexual offenders

Three other hearings choose not to lower the sentences when the old sentences can be applied with the new law

MADRID, 28 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

At least a dozen 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 what is known as the 'only yes is yes' law. The last to join has been the Court of Murcia.

This contrasts with the criterion established last week by the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, so that sentences will not be modified when they can be imposed with the new criminal framework, a criterion that would avoid an "automatic" reduction of sentences.

The Superior Court of Justice of Murcia has reported this Monday that the magistrates of the criminal sections of the Provincial Court agreed last Friday that, given that in the new law there is no "specific provision for review", "this procedure is mandatory in accordance with to the principle of retroactivity of the most favorable penal law" to the accused.

Thus, cases where the old penalty is higher than those provided for in the 'law of only yes is yes' for the same conduct will be reviewed ex officio, although it stresses that it will be necessary to attend to the "specific case" and the "principle of proportionality". .

Along the same lines, the president of the Audiencia de Almería, Luis Columna, explained that, after the internal meeting held this Monday, they have agreed that the most beneficial law for the convicted will be taken into account because, in his opinion, the Provision Fifth Transitory of the Penal Code (CP) --which would allow modulating this premise-- "is not applicable to this case".

Columna has maintained that "all those causes must be reviewed even if the sentence that is imposed is re-imposed with the new law", which will lead them to re-examine some 70 procedures in which, in addition, it has advanced that the victims will be heard whether they were part of the process or not.

In recent days, the provincial courts of Madrid, Valladolid, Vizcaya, Granada, Córdoba, Málaga, Zaragoza and Alicante have also unified criteria in different conclaves and all of them have agreed to continue betting on sentence reductions to adjust them to the new legal framework.

In the case of Alicante, the Provincial Court has agreed to review the final sentences in which the prisoner is serving the sentence or pending and to apply "the most favorable legal provision to the prisoner in each case, without making a new individualization of the sentence ", as reported by the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV).

For its part, the Provincial Court of Madrid 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 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.

In recent days, 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."

For his part, 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 for for applying the most favorable rule to the offender in attention to article 2 of the Penal Code.

Thus, he explained that when the maximum penalty has been imposed "we should put the maximum of the current reform and reduce the corresponding part." 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."

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 have warned 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 respects 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 in order, as indicated by other hearings, to apply in these cases "the provision that is most favorable to the prisoner".

Likewise, the Provincial Court of Córdoba 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.

On the other hand, this same Monday, the Plenary of magistrates of the criminal sections of the Provincial Court of Asturias has agreed to "review the final sentences of the processes in which the prisoner is effectively serving the sentence or is pending, under the prism of proportionality, taking into account to the full content of the sentence in question".

The Court of Asturias has added that "the convictions will not be reviewed ex officio when the sentence is suspended, without prejudice to doing so in the event that the suspension is revoked and before proceeding to the effective execution of the sentence whose suspension has been been revoked."

Faced with these decisions, this same Monday the Provincial Court of Navarra has reported that it will not lower the sentences when the sentences that were imposed may also be taxable under the new legal framework established by law.

As he explained, "until the Supreme Court rules establishing jurisprudential doctrine in relation to the retroactive application of Organic Law 10/2022" the two criminal sections of the Provincial Court will apply the review criteria that they have agreed in their conclave, which coincide with the interpretation of the State Attorney General's Office.

The Provincial Court of La Rioja already announced two weeks ago that it was accepting the transitory provision of the Penal Code so as not to modify any of the 54 sentences that they have already reviewed after the new Law of 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 explained by Marca, is made 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, determined on Friday that final convictions for sexual offenses 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.