Undue delay and a more favourable sexual-offences law

Supreme Court · Second Chamber (Penal) · 2023

What the Supreme Court considered and decided

The Supreme Court revised the degree of mitigation for undue delay and applied the more favourable sexual-offences reform when setting the penalty. Correcting the mitigation increased the sentence imposed by the lower courts.

What this helps explain

The comparison of laws and the assessment of mitigating circumstances are different operations; a favorable reform does not always imply a reduction of the sentence appealed.

Editorial summary from the official note of the CGPJ. It describes this resolution, without certifying the subsequent evolution of the procedure. It should be read with the legislation applicable to its facts, reforms and subsequent case law.