MADRID – The new penal framework that includes the “only yes is yes law” has led to an estimated 646 reductions in sentences for sex offenders and 65 releases. This has been confirmed by legal sources at the General Council for the Judiciary (CGPJ).
This provisional calculation has been prepared by the CGPJ based on the data provided by the Supreme Court, the regional superior courts and the provincial courts. The Council itself will release detailed data on Tuesday based on information gathered by the courts.
Reduced sentences for sex offenders
Legal sources have indicated that the data provided corresponds to already assessed sentences that have undergone reduced sentences. From the ongoing review, the data will be available later. This is because it depends on the lawyers, who have been on indefinite strike since January 24.
In addition, data will be provided on sentences handed down under the new ‘only yes is yes’ law. This relates to crimes committed under the previous law and whose punishment is favoured retroactively.
The CGPJ agreed in the plenary session to now seek from the Supreme Courts (TSJ) and provincial courts the resolutions that have been issued regarding the application of what is known as the ‘law of only yes is yes’.
The presidents of the TSJ and the provincial courts have been called upon. They must forward to the Observatory on Domestic and Gender Violence all resolutions issued regarding Organic Law 10/2022 of September 6 on the Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom.
“The petition´s purpose is to provide a detailed analysis of the incidents that occurred in the application of the law. And also to provide verified data transparently,” the CGPJ said in a statement.
More than 4,000 sex offenders detained in Spain
According to penitentiary data, there were 4,023 inmates in Spanish prisons for crimes against sexual freedom in December 2022. This included some on remand, according to prison sources.
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