Presents an amendment to the Penal Code reform to reduce the maximum fine for assaults that do not require veterinary treatment from three to two months
The PSOE has submitted an amendment to the Bill to modify penal code regarding animal abuse that is being processed in the Congress of Deputies so that the penalties are not comparable to the crime of minor injuries to people. The technical justification for this change is that “the punitive response, by virtue of the principle of proportionality, must be in accordance with the nature of the protected asset.”
Specifically, the party that governs in coalition with Unidas Podemos – promoter of this rule – states that in cases of attacks on animals that do not require veterinary treatment, the applicable fines are in the fork from one to two months, instead of one to three. This second graduation is the one that is currently applied in equivalent cases of injuries to persons.
The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has alerted precisely this week that with the proposed changes in the Criminal Code as they arrived from the Council of Ministers to the Lower House, a man mistreating a dog could be punished more than his partner. reports Europa Press. For this reason, he plans to analyze their content in a meeting that he will hold this Thursday, November 24.
In the Socialist Group they specify that their amendment was prepared prior to the warning of the highest body of judges and they point out that it is a “usual” procedure that there are “adjustments” during the parliamentary processing of laws. With the proposed modification, which would need the support of other political forces for its approval, “proportionality” would be maintained in all cases, according to a spokesman.
The reform of the Penal Code in course – which is processed in parallel to the Animal Welfare Law – does originally contemplate that the mistreatment of vertebrate animals that “requires veterinary treatment to restore health” is punished with penalties lower than that of people who need medical or surgical assistance. In the first case, penalties of three to 18 months in prison are established, while in the second the maximum is three years.
Among the 87 amendments presented, Unidas Podemos, Ciudadanos and ERC coincide in requesting that the possibility of commuting prison sentences for economic fines be eliminated in the cases in which this possibility is foreseen. All these changes will have to be debated in the Social Rights Commission of Congress, which has not yet set a date before it is voted on in plenary.
Source: www.elmundo.es
