The majority of parliamentary groups, including the PSOE and the PP, supported this Tuesday in the plenary session of Congress the process of reform of the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Law. proposed by Junts to end multiple recidivism and in which he raises, among other questions, punishing the theft of a mobile phone with a sentence of up to three years in prison.
The deputy of the Junts, Marta Madrenas, assured that the aim of her training with this initiative is “reduce multiple recidivism” and “let everyone know that crime is not free.” “We must end the widespread perception that criminals come in one door and come out another; it is necessary that criminals and the general public also know that whoever does it pays,” he stressed.
In this sense, Madrenas said that in recent times there have been “public calls for help from mayors of different sensitivities and parliamentary groups” who “denounce the serious social alarm This is what happens when it comes to insecurity between neighbors.
And, according to the Catalan leader, small groups of people are “perpetrators of waves of less serious crimes, including thefts, sometimes fights, which the system, whether police, administrative or judicial, is incapable of preventing.”
“That is why we ask that this type of theft be considered aggravated and that the City Councils that have been the main actors who demand the need to find a solution to this problem can appear in these procedures. This is important. Because also in these light procedures, the Public Prosecutor’s Office does not normally appear,” he concluded.
It should be recalled that currently the Lower House has a parliamentary procedure pending reform of the penal code in this case promoted by the PP in order to toughen the sanction in case of multiple repeat offences of theft and fraud. Its examination was brought forward last June thanks to the vote in favour of the PP, PSOE, Vox, Junts, PNV and UPN.
PSOE and PP agree on diagnosis
PSOE MP Maria Mercè Perea i Conillas announced her support for the initiative “because the security of citizens is a right of coexistence” and stressing that “without security there is no freedom or equality.”
The socialist also took advantage of her intervention to attack PP and Vox.If there is a repeat offender, it is you.. In confrontation, in hatred, in corruption. I warn you, with the new plan – the Action Plan for Democracy – approved today, ladies and gentlemen of Vox and the PP, you will have to reveal where you finance yourselves or which media you finance,” he warned.
For her part, the “popular” deputy María Jesús Moro asked her colleagues to be “useful once and for all” and not to turn the debate “into Groundhog Day”. “Ladies and gentlemen, there are diagnoses, broad coincidences, a social alarm or even the impossibility of combating multiple recidivism”, she maintained, insisting on the fact that her group has been demanding a reform of the Penal Code since 2022.
And, he continued, “these crimes are at the top of the list of criminal offences, causing great harm to society as a whole, to their specific victims and in particular to the world of tourism and the local sector.” “My group cannot say no to this initiative, even if we think that some of our proposals are better. We will do everything possible to make the best proposal,” he added.
Vox: Junts is “recidivism in its purest form”
Vox MP Javier Ortega-Smith wondered how Junts “had the audacity to present” this proposal, the group chaired by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont “I’ll explain it to you: because they are the most authorized to talk about multiple criminals.” “Recidivism, because they are the ones with the most experience in the matter, note that they are the party of the slogan ‘ho tornarem a fer’, we will do it again, it is recidivism in its purest form,” he criticized.
Enrique Santiago, deputy of Sumar, considers that “a state of law cannot allow punitive measures as high as those” proposed by Junts. “We cannot equate thefts with crimes more serious than crimes against the general interest committed by people with great resources or by a company,” he said, recognizing that this “situation is a situation of insecurity; it cannot be combated by filling the prisons with people.”
ERC MP Gabriel Rufián explained that his party would abstain because, although he “completely agrees” with the fact that judges and mayors “they need more tools”They do not share the “solution.” You, as a right-wing party they just want more painbecause the Penal Code is free. What is not free? Establish an educational network, establish a network of assistants,” he said.
Podemos criticizes punitivism
UPN MP Alberto Catalan, for his part, stressed that “the government unfortunately seems to be looking elsewhere” in the face of a “alarm” situation. “We must put an end to this situation or at least minimise it,” he stressed, supporting the initiative of Junts. PNV MP Mikel Legarda expressed the same view, announcing his favourable vote due to “the inadequacy of the current regulations of the Penal Code to deter perpetrators from committing these crimes.”
Podemos MP Martina Velarde, for her part, criticised Junts for being “to the right of the right” while announcing her opposition to the proposal, stating that “the best tool for preventing crime, especially crimes that have their cause in poverty, is not a heavy hand, but equality of opportunity and the establishment of a social cushion.”
What Junts is proposing is an amendment to the Penal Code, in relation to crimes against property and the socio-economic order provided for in the first chapter of title thirteen. Specifically, they want to amend article 234, so that the sanctions in the event of multiple repeat offences do not depend on the cumulative amount of the offences, which is currently 400 euros.
And also Article 235, to which they want to add One to three-year prison sentences for cell phone theft or electronic devices. They also recommend amending Article 22 of the same standard, relating to aggravating circumstances, and Article 66 on the general rules for the application of penalties for minor offences, to punish repeated offences with a fine of one to three months.
More Thursdays and more tools for municipal councils
On the other hand, in order to provide the “necessary resources” to make the proposed reform effective, they also request to modify Annex IV of the Law on Demarcation and Judicial Installation so that the number of judges assigned territorially in Catalonia increases from 35 to 70.
Similarly, they aspire to amend Article 105. Criminal Procedure Law so that local entities have the capacity to initiate criminal proceedings against criminals without prejudice to the action that corresponds to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Finally, they propose to include a specific amendment to the Royal Decree that regulates the administrative archives system to support the administration of justice, with regard to the general information contained in the archives integrated into the system, and with regard to the information contained in the registration of final convictions, as well as in the registration of precautionary measures.
