At least 38 convicts have already benefited from the "only yes is yes" law and 10 have been released

A previous sentence is reduced to 34 while the reform of the Penal Code is directly applied to 4

MADRID, 28 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The number of convicts who have benefited from the new penalty framework included in the 'only yes is yes' law amounts to at least 38, between lower sentence reviews (34) and subsequent sentences in the application of the norm (4). A total of 10 people have been released.

The latest reductions that have come to light have been issued by the Provincial Court of Cantabria. Specifically, the prison sentences imposed in 2020 on two convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman in a Santander hostel have been reduced. Thus, they have gone from a sentence of 18 years in prison to 11 years.

These two cases are added to a third that the Court of Cantabria had already reported, in which the sentence of a man who sexually assaulted a woman was reduced from 5 to 2 years in prison.

Organic Law 10/2022 on the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom 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 The criminal range has also been expanded to cover the entire range of behaviors now punishable as sexual assault.

Among the cases of sentence review and sentence reduction, the sources consulted by Europa Press have confirmed 20 in Madrid, three in Cantabria, two in the Balearic Islands, two in Galicia, two in Castilla y León, one in Andalusia, one in Asturias, one in Castilla-La Mancha, one in Murcia and one in the Canary Islands. 10 of these 32 cases have led to the release of those convicted: six from Madrid, two from the Balearic Islands, one from Galicia, and one from Cantabria.

Regarding the new sentences handed down after the reform, sources consulted by Europa Press explain that the TSJ of Galicia has applied the new sentences in one case, that in the Provincial Court of León they have been applied in two and that in the Provincial Court of Barcelona they have sentenced for a consummated crime of rape.

In their resolutions, the magistrates have indicated that these cases respond to the application of the new law. And they have specified that although the regulations do not clarify whether or not it should be applied to procedures in process or with a final sentence, the Penal Code itself in its second article indicates that "those criminal laws that favor the prisoner will have retroactive effect."

The sources consulted by Europa Press have specified that the number of cases in which the reductions are applied could be increased in the coming days due to the pending revisions.

Last week, the Provincial Courts of the Valencian Community indicated that they are reviewing, ex officio or at the request of a party, more than 100 sentences for crimes against sexual freedom after the entry into force of the law, according to data provided by the Superior Court of regional Justice.

For their part, the three Provincial Courts of the Basque Country have already received at least 10 requests for review of sentences for sexual crimes, although they have pointed out that there is no ruling.

In Madrid, they have 447 cases of sexual abuse and/or sexual assault that have been firmly convicted, with a convicted person admitted to prison, subject to review after the entry into force of Organic Law 10/2022. Of these causes, and ex officio, the magistrates of the Provincial Court of Madrid began the review of 121 last week. At the request of a party, the review of 55 is being processed.

The presidents of the criminal sections of the Madrid Provincial Court have agreed to apply the criteria most favorable to the accused in reviewing sentences and not taking into account the fifth transitory provision of the Penal Code that limits reviews.

Until now, the courts of Madrid have lowered 20 sentences of abuse and/or sexual assaults due to the application of the 'law of only yes is yes'. In addition, 7 releases have been issued, although one has not materialized because the convicted person has other pending sentences. In the resolutions to which Europa Press has had access, prison sentences are reduced by up to 5 years.

Among the cases of sentence reduction that Europa Press has been able to confirm, there is also evidence that the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has reduced the sentence imposed on the perpetrator of a crime of sexual abuse without precedent from 10 to 9 years.

The TSJ of Murcia has ratified a sentence on a defendant for an attempted sexual assault on a woman in 2020. The court, however, has modified the sentence imposed because it is "more favorable" for the prisoner to apply the 'law of only yes' is if'. Thus, it has reduced the sentence from 4 years and 6 months to 3 years and 1 day in prison.

On the sidelines, the Balearic Court has ordered the immediate release of two prisoners who were serving a sentence of three years in prison for two sexual assaults without penetration after reviewing the two cases.

In Galicia, in the Court of Ourense, they have reviewed a sentence of 3 years and 6 months in jail imposed on the perpetrator of an attempted crime of sexual assault with carnal access. After the review, he has reduced the sentence to 2 years and 6 months in prison and has agreed to his release.

Likewise, the TSJ of Galicia has reduced by two years the prison sentence imposed on a man who raped a woman he met through the Tinder social network in Cambre.

The legal sources consulted by Europa Press have pointed out that in Castilla y León, in the Segovia Court, four enforceable sentences on sexual crimes have been reviewed and one of them has been modified. In this case, the sentence has been reduced from 12 years to 9 years in prison.

For its part, the Court of Valladolid has reduced the sentence from 12 to 10 years in prison for the person responsible for a sexual assault on a minor under 16 years of age.

In addition, it is clear that the TSJ of Andalusia has dismissed an appeal and although it has confirmed the sentence -- "by retroactive application of the current norm" -- it has reduced the prison sentence. Thus, it has gone from 13 years, 6 months and 1 day to 11 years and 1 day.

Added to the list is the case of the TSJ of Castilla-La Mancha, which has lowered the sentence of a man who sexually assaulted a woman in Ciudad Real. Thus, he has gone from having to serve 9 years in prison to 8. The Prosecutor's Office has already warned that it will appeal this decision.

On the sidelines, the TSJ of Asturias has reduced the sentence of a man accused of sexual abuse of a child under 16 from 10 to 9 years in prison.

It should be remembered that the reviews carried out by judges are subject to appeal and that they could go as far as the Supreme Court (TS), the judicial seat called upon to establish jurisprudence.

Legal sources have specified to Europa Press that the Supreme Court would have to study the application of the law on a case-by-case basis, because the possibility of reaching non-jurisdictional agreements disappeared from the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ), so that it could not hold a conclave.

As explained by the aforementioned sources, the reviews made of final convictions prior to 2015 may be appealed directly to the Supreme Court, but those that refer to subsequent cases may only reach the high court when the appeal route in lower instances has been exhausted.

Before knowing the position of the Supreme Court, the State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, issued a decree for prosecutors to give "a uniform response" to the reviews of final sentences caused by the entry into force of this law, establishing that they do not they will be modified when the sentence imposed can be dictated with the new penal framework, which would avoid an "automatic" reduction of sentences.