The Spanish Cabinet has approved A draft penal reform bill which, amongst other things, includes jail terms of up to one year for distributing images of people without their permission, even if prior consent has been given for the images to be taken.
A recent case of a violation of the right to privacy in Spain involved the Councillor for Los Yébenes, Olvido Hormigos. The Councillor made a sexually explicit video of herself for her husband but the video ended up being distributed on various social networks. Probably pure coincidence that such things have been happening to ordinary people but when it involves a politician then the law gets changed.
The Cabinet also approved a reform of the Organic Law on Judicial Power (LOPJ), which changes the working conditions of some 5,100 judges in the country.
Some of the main changes in the draft reform bill include:
Prison sentences of up to three years for those arranging forced marriages.
The introduction of a ‘reviewable’ permanent sentence. This is similar to the concept of perpetual imprisonment but with the difference that if a prisoner can show he or she has been rehabilitated, they can subsequently be released.
The minimum period a prisoner must stay in jail before a permanent sentence can be reviewed has still to be set, but it is widely expected to be between 25 and 35 years. The reviewable sentence will be applicable in the case of murders by terrorists and genocide.
Prison sentences for the starting of forest fires are increased to six years in what are deemed serious cases. The current maximum is five years.
In cases where the victim of illegal detention (kidnapping) has disappeared and the perpetrator refuses to say what happened to the person who has been seized, the perpetrator will receive the same legal treatment as would be the case for murder.
If a prisoner is released on probation and subsequently commits another crime, they will have to serve the rest of their prison sentence from the moment of their release.
Under a section called ‘security custody’, particularly dangerous prisoners may continue to be held in prison after their jail terms are up. This will apply to serious crimes such murder, kidnapping, sexual aggression, terrorism and drug trafficking.
Persistent petty theft, such as pick-pocketing, which is carried out in a ‘professional’ manner will now be considered as a crime and carry a jail term of up to three years. This is long overdue.