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The Portuguese Penal Code General Part (Articles 1-130)

BOOK I-GENERAL PART

TITLE III-JURIDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACT

CHAPTER II-PENALTIES

SECTION IV
CONDITIONAL LIBERTY

Article 61
Prepositions and Duration

1- The application of conditional liberty always depends on the convict’s consent.

2- The court sets the convict at conditional liberty when half of the penalty is fulfilled in a minimum of six months if:
a) Considering the circumstances of the case, the agent’s previous life, his personality and its
evolution during the time of imprisonment, it is reasonable to expect that the convict, when at liberty, will live his life in a responsible social way, without committing crimes; and
b) The liberation is manifestly compatible with the defence of social order and social peace.

3- The court sets the convict at conditional liberty when two thirds of the penalty, and a minimum
of six months, has been fulfilled, if the requisites mentioned in a) of the previous number are satisfied.

4- When the prison sentence is superior to 5 years for the practice of a crime against persons or a
crime of common peril, the conditional liberty only occurs when two thirds of the penalty have
been fulfilled and if the requisites mentioned in a) and b) of number 2 are verified.

5- Without prejudice of that which is ascribed in the previous number, the convict sentenced to a
penalty superior to 6 years is set at conditional liberty as soon as he has fulfilled five sixths of the penalty.

6- In whatever modality, the conditional liberty has a duration equal to the time of prison which is still to be fulfilled, but never superior to 5 years.


Article 62
Conditional liberty in case of successive execution of various penalties

1- If there is execution of various prison penalties, the execution of the penalty to be fulfilled first shall be interrupted:
a) When half of the penalty has been fulfilled, in case of number 2 of the previous article;
b) When two thirds of the penalty have been fulfilled in the cases of number 3 and 4 of the previous article.

2- In the cases prescribed in the previous number the court decides about the conditional liberty at the moment when it can do it simultaneously in relation to the totality of the penalties.

3- If the sum of penalties to be fulfilled successively exceeds six years of imprisonment, the court sets the convict at conditional liberty, as soon as he has fulfilled five sixths of the sum of penalties, if he has not previously been benefited by it.

4- The dispositions in the previous numbers are not applicable to cases in which the execution of the penalty results from revocation of conditional liberty.


Article 63
Regime

The dispositions of the article 52, in number 1 and 2 of the article 53, of the article 54, in a) b) and
c) of the article 55, are correspondingly applicable to the conditional liberty.


Article 64
Revocation and extinction of conditional liberty

1- The dispositions in number 1 of the article 56 and of the article 57 respectively are correspondingly applicable to revocation and extinction of conditional liberty.

2- The revocation of the conditional liberty determines the execution of the prison penalty not yet fulfilled.

3- In relation to the prison penalty which is to be fulfilled, the concession of a new conditional liberty in terms of the article 61 may occur.

Keywords

Early release - national proceedings



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