The Biscayan Court reduces a sentence for two crimes of sexual assault by two years based on the Law of yes is yes

The convicted person, who is admitted to a psychiatric center, will serve four years in prison instead of six

A second sentence of the Provincial Court of Bizkaia has reduced the total prison sentence imposed on a man by two years for two crimes of sexual assault "with carnal access", in application of the Law of 'only if it is yes', of so that the penalty to be served will be four years instead of six.

The resolution was made public this Thursday, after yesterday the first sentence was known based on the review of the first of the cases raised before the Biscayan judicial body, for which the sentence of another sexual offender was reduced by a year and a half. : from four and a half to three years.

The board of magistrates of the Provincial Court of Bizkaia, meeting on November 25, decided to review ex officio all the convictions of sexual offenders, on a case-by-case basis, based on the application of the "only yes is yes" Law, after solicit input from all parties.

In the second review of a conviction, following the request of the lawyer for the convicted person based on the new Law for the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, the court has decided to reduce the total sentence of six years to four that it established on May 20, 2021 for two crimes of sexual assault --with the application of the highly qualified mitigation of drug addiction--. In this way, one is reduced for each crime (from three to two).

Despite the fact that the Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution have opposed the review, the Bizkaia Court has considered that the downward revision of the sentence is appropriate, since the retroactivity of the new regulation must be applied, which "introduces into various precepts, new sentence ranges and a reduction in the minimum and maximum limits of the sentences to be imposed for various conducts against sexual freedom".

The sentence recalls that article 2.2 of the Penal Code establishes "the retroactivity of criminal laws that favor the prisoner", even though when they entered into force there was a final sentence and the prisoner was serving a sentence. In this case, he believes that the sentence is "reviewable", despite the fact that the prisoner is in substitution suspension due to a security measure agreed by the prison surveillance court, specifically, he has been admitted to a psychiatric center.

The man whose sentence is reduced was considered the author of two crimes of sexual assault "with carnal access", but the "very qualified" mitigation of drug addiction was applied to him, for which he was imposed six years in prison, three for each one of the criminal acts he committed. He will now turn four, two for each of the sexual assaults. The judgment may be appealed against before the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country (TSJPV) within a period of ten days.