With the enactment of the Law, which benefits convicted mothers, more than 5,000 women will be able to replace their sentences with unpaid public utility services, in educational activities, environmental restoration, recovery of public space, support for mass transportation and helps vulnerable populations, among others.
The norm, which was sanctioned by President Petro in Quibdó (Chocó), allows the beneficiaries not only to have the opportunity to share and work to meet the needs of their children, but also to study and move without restrictions while they are sheltered by measure.
When sanctioning the norm, President Petro indicated that the objective is to avoid that “if they remain imprisoned and the children without their mother, these children grow up without affection and many, in the future, become criminals.”
To commute the sentence, the women covered by the law must provide the aforementioned public utility services with a minimum intensity of 5 hours per week and a maximum of 20 hours per week.
In the rule it was established that the substitute sentence will be granted by a judge of knowledge at the moment of imposing the sentence or by a judge of execution of sentences for those women who are already serving the sentence.
It should be noted that the Law benefits women convicted of crimes of theft and/or drug trafficking with sentences of less than 8 years in prison.
Likewise, with alternative measures to prison such as the one provided by this norm, the Government considers that it contributes to rebuilding the social fabric and favors the social inclusion of women heads of households in a state of marginality.
In addition, they favor the reduction of recidivism and avoid the breaking of social and family ties, and the generation of stigma and discrimination.
regulation
In the same sense, it is important to assert that the implementation of the aforementioned Law will not be automatic, but must be regulated by the Ministry of Justice, within a period of no more than six months.
In fact, the Ministry is already working on regulating the Law so that women who meet the requirements can access this alternative measure as soon as possible.
Precisely, to strengthen the implementation process of this new substitute measure, in the coming days there will be a socialization with judges of knowledge and execution of sentences and security measures on the Law.
Boundaries
Regarding this sanction, Hernando Herrera, p.resident of the Excellence in Justice Corporation, told El NUEVO SIGLO that there can be two interpretations: “the first is that everything that specifically aims to benefit mothers who are heads of households can be welcomed. In that particular case, they are assigned a permit so that they can leave up to 20 hours a week to attend to their homes, that is what the law basically says.”
“It is worth bearing in mind that this was not a law promoted by the current government, this law was approved by Congress in 2021, that there was an objection from the president at that time, Iván Duque, and that the Constitutional Court indicated that these objections They didn’t fit,” recalled Herrera.
“What we propose regardless of whether the law seems positive to us, above all, to benefit minors, is that it always have limits that are relevant. First, it is about people who are not repeat offenders, that is, with only one crime or a first crime. Second, that they are crimes of low social impact with prison sentences of less than eight years. And third, that this replacement of the sentence after temporary departures to their homes be monitored and if there is any violation of the security protocols, that permit, for individual cases, be revoked, ”he added.
The legislative initiative was presented by former congressman Rodrigo Lara who said: The alternative sentences that will now be applied will consist of serving their sentence by providing public utility services that these women will provide, outside the walls. It is an approach to the restorative sentence that will allow the resocializing purpose of the sentence to be fulfilled. Likewise, it will allow women to pay their debt to society without affecting their homes.