Permanent revisable prison (PPR), the highest penalty contemplated in the Spanish legal system, was included in the Penal Code in 2015 and is a measure surrounded by controversy. The Sa Pobla murderer has recently become the first to receive such a penalty.
It is a sentence that involves serving effective imprisonment for an initial period lasting between 25 or 35 years (depending on whether the criminal committed one or more crimes, or whether these are crimes related to terrorism). After this time, the sentence may be reviewed.
The PPR does not have a maximum duration limit, which means that it can be confused with life imprisonment (a penalty not contemplated in Spain).
In cases where review is requested, a court must assess whether the release of the criminal poses a risk to society. If the review determines that the convicted person has met the objectives of the sentence and does not pose a risk, he or she may be paroled. If not, he will remain in prison and will be reviewed again after a set period of time.
Crimes
Permanent revisable imprisonment is reserved for very serious crimes, such as:
- Particularly cruel or aggravated murders (e.g., of minors, persons with disabilities or following a crime against sexual freedom).
- Terrorist crimes.
- Homicides of heads of state or members of their families.
- Multiple murders.
It is worth remembering that the murderer of Sa Pobla has been found guilty of two murders with malice aforethought and overkill, with the aggravating circumstance of kinship and gender discrimination -one of them-; and a crime of abortion.
Controversy
Permanent sentences generate conflicting positions. On the one hand, there are those who point out that they are necessary penalties in cases of serious crimes, since they help protect society from very dangerous criminals. On the other hand, opponents of this type of punishment consider that it violates fundamental rights, such as the right to social reintegration. Therefore, they point out that it is an unconstitutional penalty. Its establishment in 2015, together with the Gag Law, has been surrounded by controversy. Although with another name, similar penalties, with review, are included in European penal systems, such as in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Emblematic cases
In the time that this penalty has been in Spain, it has been applied in very mediatic cases. For example, Ana Julia Quezada, Convicted for the murder of Gabriel Cruz, an 8-year-old boy, in 2018; Patrick Nogueira, convicted for the murder of his uncles and cousins in Pioz (Guadalajara), or José Enrique Abuín, known as El Chicle, convicted for the murder of Diana Quer in 2016, in A Pobra do Caramiñal (A Coruña).
