How the consolidation of sentences is calculated: a practical guide to understanding it
For many inmates and their families, one of the most confusing moments is the notification of the sentence calculation, the document that establishes how much time must be served in total and the expected release date. The calculations are opaque, and that opacity has consequences: an error can mean more time in prison than is due. This guide explains, step by step and with an example, how the consolidation of sentences is calculated.
The first step is to identify all the convictions pending service: those being served, those imposed but not yet started and those pending finality. For each one, it is necessary to know the exact duration, the judgment in which it was imposed, the time of pre-trial detention to be deducted and whether the court has ordered their accumulation.
The second step is to verify whether there is an accumulation order issued by the competent court in application of Article 76 of the Criminal Code. Without that order, consolidation cannot apply the maximum limits: it would be a simple sum of convictions. If it does not exist, accumulation must be requested before calculating the consolidation. The third step is to determine the time of service already completed, which includes the time of pre-trial detention credited and the time of effective service since entry into prison.
The fourth step, the central one, is to apply the maximum limit of service: three times the most serious sentence is calculated, compared with the applicable absolute limit, twenty years in most cases, and the lesser of the two is applied; then that limit is compared with the total sum of the convictions, and if the sum exceeds it, only the limit is served. The fifth step is to calculate the definitive release date, adding to the start date of service the days of the maximum time of service.
An example clarifies it. Manuel has three convictions: five years for robbery with violence, with eight months of pre-trial detention; four years for drug trafficking; and three for fraud. The total sum is twelve years. The most serious sentence is five years, three times which is fifteen. The absolute limit is twenty years. The lesser limit applies, fifteen years. As the total sum, twelve years, is less than fifteen, Manuel serves the full twelve years, with no reduction. After deducting the eight months of pre-trial detention, eleven years and four months of effective service remain. In this case the accumulation produces no reduction, because the sum does not exceed the limit.
It is worth reviewing the frequent errors in the calculation: the non-application of the accumulation order, the incorrect application of three times the most serious sentence, the wrong computation of the time of pre-trial detention or the exclusion of convictions that should be accumulated.
If an error is detected, the mechanism to correct it is the challenge before the prison supervision judge, who may order the rectification of the calculation; if it is dismissed, an appeal is available. It is advisable to act swiftly: each day of service in excess is a day of deprivation of liberty that is not recovered. In case of any doubt, it is advisable to consult a lawyer specialising in sentence enforcement.
