The second official tally by the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) of sentence reductions for sex offenders due to the enactment of the Sexual Freedom Act (known as the Law of Just Yes Is Yes) puts the reduced sentences at 978, of which 104 included the release of the offender . The number that EL PAÍS had access to is slightly higher than the one leaked on Wednesday (943 reductions and 103 releases) as this data had to incorporate information from various high courts and provincial courts. For the first time, the Council’s balance sheet includes the percentage of penalties reviewed that represent a reduction in sentence: 32%. That means practically every third person. The Supreme Court is the body that has reduced most sentences under the new law – 40.5% of those examined by this body – although it has not yet reviewed a final judgment in its case, only reviewing appeals against judgments with the previous one Law imposed, a situation in which, according to the court, the judges’ room for interpretation is greater.
The figure collected in the last tally of the judiciary includes the cuts decided by the Provincial Courts (880), the Supreme Courts (82), the National Court (1) and the Supreme Court (15) since the enactment of the Standard, on October 7th and until March 31st. The data does not include sentencing reviews that may have been processed by criminal courts responsible for prosecuting crimes against sexual freedom, which can be punishable by up to five years in prison, as it is difficult to collect this information in any court.
In order to obtain the overall data provided this Friday, the penalty revisions notified by the state courts were subtracted if they were later revoked by the higher courts. Also added were the revisions initially contested by the hearings, but finally appreciated by the TSJ. In at least 104 cases, the sentence reduction has resulted in the attacker’s release, although the CGPJ warns that not all judicial authorities have provided this information, so the data released by the council only includes confirmed prison releases and has been communicated since the rule went into effect. A total of 99 of these dismissals were made by the provincial courts. The other five, the autonomous courts.
Not all courts have reported data on how many judgments have already been reviewed and how many are in process or pending, so it is not possible to extract the exact percentage of reviews that ultimately lead to reduced sentences. But from those who did, you get a clear picture of the situation: 2,097 penalties checked and 671 cuts. That is, 32%. The highest percentage is held by the Supreme Court, which has reviewed 37 judgments and reduced the sentence in 15 of them (although it is the only body that has not yet reviewed a final judgment). In the higher regional courts, this percentage is 39.5%; in the provincial hearings in 31.6%; and before the National Court with 14.3%.
The court that has reviewed the most judgments so far is that of Madrid, with 362 resolutions reviewed. By March 31, 118 had had their sentences reduced and 16 attackers had been released from prison. The Madrid courts estimate that the total number of judgments to be reviewed will be 557, of which 117 are pending in addition to those already reviewed and 67 have not yet been processed. The Madrid courts have also reported that in 54% of the cases reviewed, the victims are minors.
After Madrid, the Valencia court has examined the most cases: 193 with 46 reductions and four releases. It is followed by Barcelona (130 revisions, 40 cuts and four releases) and Seville (127 revisions, 36 cuts and five releases). In the higher courts, the reviewed judgments total 85, although figures for Andalusia, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Extremadura and Madrid are missing. However, these courts have eased the number of reduced sentences, which total 82. Madrid are again at the top with 26, followed by Andalusia and the Balearic Islands, who have announced six reductions to the council in sets of mourning.
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