Ángel Luis Ortiz, Secretary General of Prison Institutions, inaugurated this Wednesday the UNED summer course at the Granada Penitentiary Center, titled 'Criminal Law and its Limits: Penal Solutions for All Types of Problems?'. Ortiz recalled that it was in this prison where the pilot experience of incorporating external students into summer courses began, a model that has since been extended to other penitentiary centers.
With 80 participants, the course covers topics such as mental health, addictions, sports, and social inclusion. In his speech, Ortiz questioned whether criminal law should be the response to all social problems, arguing that not every conflict requires a punitive solution. Drawing from his judicial experience, he warned about the rise of 'punitive populism', masked as 'democratic punitivism'.
Ortiz clarified that the minimum custodial sentence in Spain is 3 months, compared to 6 months in most other countries, and the maximum is 40 years. Spain's incarceration rate stands at 117 people per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 71 in Germany, 112 in France, 115 in Portugal, and 145 in the United Kingdom.
To conclude, he expressed his hope that the course would serve attendees to 'open new perspectives, generate dialogue, and reinforce essential values in our society'. Summer courses are also being held at other centers, including A Lama (Pontevedra), Teixeiro (A Coruña), Alicante Cumplimiento, El Dueso (Cantabria), Jaén, León, psychiatric hospitals in Alicante and Seville, and several centers in Madrid and Seville.
