The PSOE and Sumar agree to decriminalize insults to the Crown and offenses to religious sentiments

BarcelonaThe PSOE and Sumar have agreed to promote a reform of the Penal Code that includes, among other things, the repeal of the crimes of insult and defamation against the Crown and the offense to religious sentiments. The agreement, based on a bill presented by Sumar and taken into consideration by Congress in 2023, provides for the suppression of fines and prison sentences of up to two years for insulting or defaming any member of the Spanish royal family or for using their image in a way that "may damage the prestige of the Crown", as currently established in the Penal Code. The government partners have set out to speed up the procedures for the initiative and are confident of having the support of the investiture majority for the reform to move forward.

Regarding the repeal of the crime of offense to religious sentiments, the agreement of the two parliamentary groups would mean ending the possibility of fines of eight to twelve months for anyone who offends a religious confession, whether "publicly, by word, in writing or by means of any type of document". In the same vein, the pact document also provides for the elimination from the Penal Code of the crime of offenses or outrages - by word or in writing - against Spain, the Autonomous Communities or their symbols and emblems, which are currently punished by law with fines ranging from six months to one year.

"Puppet makers and illustrators"

"It would have been unforgivable not to try to repeal these articles in the Penal Code that have done so much harm to puppeteers and cartoonists," said the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, who appeared to present the agreement with the deputy spokesperson for Sumar, Enrique Santiago, and the spokesperson for the Constitutional Commission of the PSOE, Artemi Rallo. The latter pointed out that, unlike what was included in the original bill proposed by the Sumar group, the crime of glorifying terrorism provided for in Article 548 of the Penal Code will remain in force, according to the Efe agency.

The rest of the points in the document agreed between PSOE and Sumar are the repeal of insults to the Cortes Generales or legislative assemblies (punishable by fines of twelve to eighteen months) and penalties for "slander and insults" against the Spanish government, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the equivalent bodies of the Autonomous Communities, and the armies and corps and security forces.

This series of instances are what is legally defined as the "high institutions of the State". The agreed document, however, opts to maintain penalties of three to five years in prison for those who use "force, violence or intimidation" against these institutions and fines of twelve to eighteen months for those who "seriously threaten" them.

The reform, a "democratic urgency"

With this reform, PSOE and Sumar affirm their desire to "strengthen the right to freedom of expression, as corresponds with a quality and full democracy, and more specifically, to align Spain with international standards, with the United Nations and with the Council of Europe," explained Rallo, who recalled that the Spanish state has been condemned up to three times by the European Court of Human Rights, which recalls that freedom of expression protects demonstrations, cases, and acts such as burning photographs of the king, criticism of institutions like the Crown, or offenses to the flag. Santiago, however, has described the agreed reform as a "democratic urgency".