( Spanish, from ) is a type of sentence of imprisonment in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and several other Spanish-speaking countries.

Laws by region

Philippines

In the Philippines, it is one of two severe penalties, the other being

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

, implemented to replace the death penalty and is in legal parlance near-synonymous with life imprisonment. However, there are some important distinctions between the two terms: * Unlike life imprisonment, carries a maximum sentence of 40 years. * is prescribed for crimes punishable by the

Revised Penal Code The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The ...

, while life imprisonment is imposed on offenses punishable by special laws. * carries the accessory penalty in which, as defined by Philippine law, the prisoner is barred for life from holding political office. Life imprisonment does not carry this penalty. is the penalty handed down to inmates convicted of a capital crime (in which case they will be ineligible for

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

) as well as what the Republic Act 7659 designates as "heinous crimes" once punishable by death: The

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

has ruled that the Expanded Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law also allows heinous crimes convicts (i.e., those sentenced to ''reclusión perpetua'') to avail for good conduct time credit for early release.

Notes

References

* Aquino, Ramon C. ''Revised Penal Code'', Vol. I Criminal law Law of the Philippines Sentencing (law) Law of Argentina {{criminal-law-stub