The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) has justified its participation in the final drafting of the legal reform to increase penalties for repeat offenders in response to the civil unrest observed in various municipalities of Euskadi. The Europa Press medium stated that this amendment passed the presentation phase in the Justice Commission of the Congress thanks to agreements between Junts, the Socialist Workers’ Party of Spain (PSOE) and the Popular Party (PP), although it was rejected by EH Bildu and Podemos and there were certain reservations among partners such as Sumar and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC). The law, originally promoted by Junts per Catalunya, aims to amend both the criminal code and criminal procedure law to toughen penalties for those who repeatedly commit crimes such as theft and small change fraud.
As Europa Press details, the parliamentary development of the proposal represents an important step after several months of delays caused by the lack of consensus between the government’s various allies, who at the time expressed their opposition to the proposed increase in penalties. The commission, which met behind closed doors, held the vote in which Junts, PSOE and PP agreed on six transactional changes – two with the PSOE and four with the PP – to unblock the process. EH Bildu and Podemos maintained their opposition and formalized a negative vote, while Sumar and ERC decided to reserve their final position for deliberation in a public commission.
According to Europa Press, the origin of the proposal dates back to March of the previous year, when Junts presented the initiative on the condition that it should facilitate the appointment of Pedro Sánchez as President of the Government. Since then, the project has experienced delays, with a period of inactivity until the breakdown of dialogue between Junts and the central executive, a moment that led to the reactivation of the process and opened the door to negotiations on changes.
The reform provides for new measures to punish recidivism of crimes with a low economic impact. The text stipulates that thefts whose value does not exceed 400 euros will initially be punished with fines of one to three months. The punishment can increase to a prison sentence of one to three years if the perpetrator has already been legally convicted of at least three other crimes of lesser severity. These aggravating circumstances also extend to cases such as the theft of telephone terminals or computer devices containing personal data, excluding cases of theft of new devices in companies.
In the area of fraud, the project supported by PP, PSOE and PNV introduces provisions to penalize multiple recidivism by detecting fraud when the economic damage does not exceed 400 euros, imposing the above-mentioned fine, but reserving more severe penalties in the event that the person responsible has a fixed criminal record for similar crimes. The text stipulates that when making a sentence, judges will assess factors such as the amount of fraud, the amount of damage caused, the connection between those involved and the characteristics of the deception. It is stipulated that criminal records that have been deleted or are to be deleted will not be taken into account when calculating the imposition of these sanctions.
Among the latest changes introduced, according to Europa Press, is the inclusion of the possibility of adopting precautionary measures restricting the freedom of movement of the sanctioned person. This can occur in individual cases and ranges from banning access to certain districts, cities or regions to ordering not to approach or contact certain people. The power to establish and adjust these restrictions rests with the judicial authority based on the specifics of each case.
Another novelty arises from an amendment agreed between PP, PNV and Junts, which provided for a penalty for the behavior known as “petaqueo” related to the logistical support of ships for drug trafficking – an activity that includes the acquisition, transport, storage or delivery of liquid fuels in violation of current legislation and reckless action – and, as agreed, imposed a prison sentence of one to five years.
The PNV’s position was expressed by its spokesman Mikel Legarda, who in statements reported by Europa Press stressed that the Basque party supported the reform as a response to an existing concern in Basque society, although he defended the need to address the problem without overestimation and from a calm perspective. This position partially coincides with the demands that Junts and PP had expressed in the negotiations and made it possible to add the necessary support for the transition to the next legislative phase, despite the explicit disagreement of EH Bildu, Podemos and other formations that are part of the coalition supporting the central government.
Processing according to the legislative calendar described by Europa Press will continue in the Justice Commission in the coming weeks. The report resulting from the presentation will be discussed again at a public meeting scheduled for the week of December 17th. Subsequently, after the resumption of regular parliamentary activity in January or February, the opinion goes to the plenary session of Congress, where a decision is made on its final approval.
In this way, the reform promoted by Junts and supported in particular by the PSOE, PP and PNV advanced in the House of Commons, despite the continued rejection of several partners who had allowed the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez, consolidating an alternative majority in favor of tightening the measures against multiple repeat crimes.