Convictions and people sentenced for hyper-aggravated murders to life imprisonment in Spain

• In Event: Homicide & Murder in Spain: New Evidence and Perspectives

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the legal regime of Spanish revisable permanent imprisonment based on the case law developed on the controversial elements of the regulation. To this end, a descriptive study was carried out of the data offered by the casuistry on the facts that led to the imposition of the sentence, those sentenced to it and its victims. This was done by analysing the proven facts and legal grounds of the rulings (obtained from Spanish case law databases) corresponding to the proceedings in which the sentence was imposed, from 1 July 2015 to 31 December 2024. Reading them has allowed us to understand the criminological and victimological profiles of the persons involved in the offences punished with the penalty and to highlight problematic jurisprudential positions and contradictory interpretative criteria. This is why it will be proposed at the end of this intervention to adopt other interpretation criteria and to reform the regulation in order to resolve the problems detected and not satisfactorily resolved by the courts.

Author

• Cristian Sánchez-Benítez, Universidad de Jaén