Criminal recidivism will increase sentences of up to 40 years in the new Penal Code

Santo Domingo.- The new Penal Code instituted through Law No. 74-25, establishes more severe sanctions for people who reoffend in the commission of criminal offenses, with penalties that can reach up to 40 years of major imprisonment, in accordance with the provisions of articles 51 to 54 of the legal text. The article 52 establishes: “If a natural person who has been irrevocably convicted of a very serious or serious offense commits another very serious or serious offense, the penalty immediately superior to that which corresponds will be imposed”.
And add: “If the second or subsequent offense carries a prison sentence of more than thirty to forty years, the applicable sentence shall be forty years of imprisonment.” Article 51 defines recidivism as the act of committing a new very serious or serious infraction after having been convicted of a previous one, national or foreign.

“There shall be recidivism when a person convicted by an irrevocable sentence of a national or foreign court commits or incurs a new very serious or serious offense…”

Furthermore, Article 51, paragraph I clarifies that recidivism will only be applicable if a period of no more than ten years has elapsed between both infractions, in the case of serious infractions, counted from the date the previous sentence became irrevocable or has prescribed.

“Recidivism will only apply if no more than ten years have passed between the first and second offense…”.

Article 54 classifies certain crimes as being of the same nature, which is relevant for the application of recidivism, including:

• Gender violence in any of its forms:domestic or intrafamily violence, abuse, incest, assault and sexual assault.
• Robbery, extortion, blackmail, fraud and breach of trust.
• Corruption, coalition of officials, bribery, embezzlement, illicit enrichment, conflict of interest, price alteration, illegal overvaluation, embezzlement, among others.

This new Penal Code reinforces the fight against recidivism through a system of progressive sanctions, considering not only the seriousness of the act, but also its reiteration, the nature of the crime and the identity of the offender.