Pedro Sanchez complied with Bildu’s wishes and agreed on a vast reform of the Security law which protects the Police. Among the points of the agreement, the government decriminalized the crime of disobedience, although since Sánchez’s arrival in Moncloa, crimes in this category have increased by more than 3,000, to exceed 15,600 at the end of the ‘last year.
Concretely, the future law will put an end to the “discretionary power” which now exists in sanctions for lack of respect for authority and disobedience, the most pronounced since 2015. “Insults or insults whose recipient is a member of the Security forces and bodies in the exercise of their security protection functions, when such behavior does not constitute a criminal offense. To understand that a violation has been committed, it must involve relevant expressions, and mere disagreement with a legitimate mandate or with the fundamental exercise of freedom of expression cannot be considered punishable. Likewise, the sanction will be revoked when the sanctioned party agrees to retract/apologize for its expressions,” reads the aforementioned agreement.
However, this decriminalization contrasts with the increase in this type of delinquency. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE)Since 2019, crimes of disobedience have increased by more than 3,000, reaching 15,604 in 2023, 20% more than when he arrived in La Moncloa. Thus, after a year of pandemic, these crimes have comfortably exceeded the level of 13,000.
With the agreement between the PSOE and Bildu, only “insults or slander” which do not constitute a crime can be punished, but on condition that they are “relevant expressions” and not a simple refusal to obey a legal order. In addition, sanctions for disrespect will be canceled in the event of retraction of the sanctioned person and infractions due to disobedience will be reduced from serious infractions to minor infractions. Concretely, disobedience will only be punished in the event of “express refusal to execute an order in accordance with the law” or “physical resistance to an order from agents”, provided that they respect the regulations.
The reform desired by Bildu
All these “harmful aspects” mentioned by Aizpurua are those which “generated a blockage during the previous legislature”, as the Bildu spokesperson recalled. The law was approved by the PP government led by Mariano Rajoy in 2015, when he had an absolute majority. Since then, criticism from left-wing parties has continued. Already March 2017 PSOE tried, without success, to have this reform adopted in Congress, in front of a government of PP of Rajoy in a parliamentary minority.
In the previous legislature they also tried to change this rule, without success. The Executive negotiated for a year and a half with its partners during more than 50 formal and informal meetings. The government’s proposal amended 36 of the 54 articles of the Citizen Security Law. However, he did not address any of the precepts that radical left parties consider “most harmful.” There are four elements that mark the differences from the start, notably riot equipment.
The reform could not take place after ERC and Bildu voted against the opinion of the Interior Commission in March 2023. Their votes were added to those of the PP, Vox, Ciudadanos, UPN and Junts, making a total of 19. it’s not compared to 18 if it is of the PSOE and Podemos.
