BOOK I
GENERAL PART

TITLE III
CIRCUMSTANCES

SINGLE CHAPTER
GENERAL RULES

Article 52. General aggravating circumstances

1. General circumstances aggravating the responsibility of the perpetrator are all those prior to, during or after the fact that, although not part of the legal description of the act, yet reveal a higher degree of unlawfulness of the act, conduct or guilt of the perpetrator, thus increasing the need for punishment.
PENAL CODE of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste

2. General aggravating circumstances may include the following :

a) The crime is committed with disloyalty, as occurs in cases of betrayal, ambush, waiting or disguise.

b) The crime is committed against persons using means or ways that directly or indirectly seek to ensure execution without the danger that could result from possible defense of the victim.

c) The crime is committed by fraud, deceit, abuse of power or authority, or by taking advantage of circumstances of place and time.

d) The crime is committed for payment or to receive a sum or reward.

e) The crime is motivated by racism, or any other discriminatory sentiment on grounds of gender,
ideology, religion or beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, illness or physical disability of the victim.

f) The perpetrator has the special duty to not commit the crime, to hinder its commission or to take action to punish the same, or takes advantage, for commission of the crime, of public authority that the same holds or invokes.

g) Not being a case of recurrence, the perpetrator has committed one or more crimes of a similar nature in the course of three years prior to the time the crime for which the same is being tried was committed, regardless of the time when judgment is rendered.

h) The crime is committed at the same time as another crime in order to facilitate the execution of one or more other crimes;

i) Commission of the crime was facilitated by the perpetrator's entrance or attempted entrance into the victim's residence or using poison, flooding, fire, explosion; sinking or damaging a vessel or using a weapon ;

j) The commission of the crime or the use of its consequences having been facilitated by cooperation of two or more persons ;

k) The perpetrator intentionally and inhumanely increases the victim's suffering, causing the latter unnecessary suffering for consummation of the crime, or any other acts of theft, cruelty or destruction also unnecessary for commission of the crime.

l) The victim is or was a spouse or is in a de-facto relationship identical thereto, or is a parent or descendant, sibling, adoptee or adopter of the perpetrator.

m) The victim is particularly vulnerable by reason of age, illness or physical or mental disability, whenever said circumstance is not part of the definition of the crime itself.

BOOK I
GENERAL PART

TITLE IV
LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF CRIME

CHAPTER VII
DETERMINATION OF PENALTIES

Article 90. General principles

2. The concrete extent of the penalty within the scope of the abstract penalty shall be determined in the following manner :

a) Any modifying aggravating circumstances of recurrence and habitual criminality, as described in articles 53 and 54, shall be applied to the abstract penalty corresponding to the consummated crime ;
b) Any extraordinarily mitigating circumstances shall be taken into consideration, in the absence of any modifying circumstances, if provisions in the previous paragraph have been met or based on the abstract penalty for the consummated crime.

Article 76
Sentencing
1. In the event of a conviction, the Trial Chamber shall consider the appropriate sentence to be imposed and shall take into account the evidence presented and submissions made during the trial that are relevant to the sentence.
2. Except where article 65 applies and before the completion of the trial, the Trial Chamber may on its own motion and shall, at the request of the Prosecutor or the accused, hold a further hearing to hear any additional evidence or submissions relevant to the sentence, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
3. Where paragraph 2 applies, any representations under article 75 shall be heard during the further hearing referred to in paragraph 2 and, if necessary, during any additional hearing.
4. The sentence shall be pronounced in public and, wherever possible, in the presence of the accused.

Article 78
Determination of the sentence
1. In determining the sentence, the Court shall, in accordance with the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, take into account such factors as the gravity of the crime and the individual circumstances of the convicted person.
2. In imposing a sentence of imprisonment, the Court shall deduct the time, if any, previously spent in detention in accordance with an order of the Court. The Court may deduct any time otherwise spent in detention in connection with conduct underlying the crime.
3. When a person has been convicted of more than one crime, the Court shall pronounce a sentence for each crime and a joint sentence specifying the total period of imprisonment. This period shall be no less than the highest individual sentence pronounced and shall not exceed 30 years imprisonment or a sentence of life imprisonment in conformity with article 77, paragraph 1 (b).