The Supreme Court established that the application of the organic law of integral guarantee of sexual freedom, known as ‘the law of the only yes is yes’is “mandatory” because “more favorable” to the detainee, in the sentence rendered during the settlement of the appeals of the “Arandina case”, the judgment of which was presented on November 29 but known in its entirety this Wednesday.
The Supreme Court’s decision to convict two former Arandina players to 9 years in prison means increasing the sentences of the two convicts to 4 and 3 years that had been fixed by the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL), after having eliminated the mitigation that had been appreciated due to the proximity of age and maturity between the convict and the victim. The prosecution requested 10 years in prison for both, but the court left them one year less for the application of the “law of the only yes is yes”.
The Supreme Court explained that “the adaptation of the penalty to the new penal text after the ON 10/2022 It is obligatory because the retroactivity of the criminal law most favorable to the accused applies under a more advantageous later law, as happened in the present case.
In this sense, the magistrates also underlined that the sentence review process reaches “not only those who are in the execution phase, but also those who are in the sentencing phase, either at the very end of the oral trial, or under of an appeal or appeal resolution, assessing whether the sanction to be imposed may be more advantageous.
The decision of Criminal Chamber In particular, it had the vote of magistrate Ángel Luis Hurtado, who understood that the analog attenuation already applied by the Castilian-Leonese TSJ should have been maintained, with a slight reduction in penalties because the new law was also considered more beneficial.
Sanchez
Since it came into effect just two months ago, Irene Montero’s star rule has led to the revision of the sentences of more than 50 sex offenders, and up to a dozen releases. The truth is that Sánchez himself, who is now preparing to make a reform against the clock, gave his approval to the law, which left the Council of Ministers in July last year. He also did not oppose the reduction of sentences, despite warnings from judges about their foreseeable consequences.
So far Moncloa were you on the possibility of changing the law. A decision that will surely cause a new crisis with Podemos. The alterations will be ad hoc, according to government sources, and will take place after the Supreme Court returns to power and already to established case law. The High Court issued a first communication after ruling on the Arandina caseendorsed the reduced sentences for those convicted under the new law, although he insisted that this be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.
Of course, the PSOE signed a joint amendment with Podemos promote programs aimed at “reintegration” of sex offenders, thus emphasizing the controversial rehabilitation of offenders and not the protection of victims. The amendment, which was approved and incorporated into the final text, thus favored the social integration of sex offenders. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the recidivism of these convicts is between 4.23% and 7.1% in Spain. Other studies, however, put it at 20%.
Until now, the Prime Minister had limited himself to categorically defending the law. Just a few days ago, at the inauguration of the XXII Congress of the Socialist International Women, the Chief Executive stressed that the rule “has as its main objective the strengthening of women’s safety against sexual assault and that a victim will never again be questioned”. The PSOE leader stressed that the controversial law “is part of a long road traveled by all Spanish women, from civil society, organizations, the judiciary and administrations”.
It should be remembered that in its preparation they collaborated up to three PSOE ministries -Justice, Interior and Territorial Policy- and that all departments presented their allegations during the processing process. The standard was thus passed by the ministries until it was finally approved by the whole of the Government in the Council of Ministers on July 6, 2021.