responsabilidad personal subsidiaria

16:27 Nov 20, 2018 

I don't mind the use of alternative. In my court, when sentencing someone to a non-custodial sentence, there can be a "jail alternative" set on the record in case the defendant does not comply.

@Charles
You are right regarding the use of penalty. I guess I let the way we do things around here influence me too much.

@Robert
I believe it is simply referring to liability.

15:37 Nov 20, 2018 

I really would welcome further refinement here. I am not convinced "alternative" is the best possible term. But unfortunately I really can't spare the time to give this the further thought it deserves at the moment.

15:31 Nov 20, 2018 

Well done, Charles, I couldn't dig into this at the time, but I wanted to quickly share what I had found in Rebecca's Léxico Temático. I do think we might be able to improve on the term "alternative"; how about "ancillary" or "supplementary"?

I also have to agree with Charles on that point about using penalty. Penalty seems to me (in my layman's appreciation) a rather generic term that would cover a number of punishments, including fines, imprisonment, sentences, etc., in criminal cases, and in civil cases, damages, late fees, etc.

On another point, I was pondering why the term "responsabilidad" in particular is used here anyway. Sandro, perhaps you could tell us, is it referring to "jeopardy" or is it simply "liability"?

15:15 Nov 20, 2018 

I'm not sure I ought to get into further argument on this, though I'm sure it could be fruitfully argued further. But I am a bit surprised by this:

"I do not agree with the use of "penalty" because that is a sentence".

Surely there are such things as statutory penalties. For a whole range of crimes, the statute prescribes a range of penalties if a defendant is convicted. The judge imposes the actual penalty, within the limits defined by statue. So it is here. Someone who fails to pay a fine in Spain goes before a judge, who decides what form the "responsabilidad personal subsidiaria" should take. I think the word "penalty" can reasonably be used here.

14:59 Nov 20, 2018 

It is a bit tricky when the compliance of the fine is set up as a hypothetical in Artículo 53.

Si el condenado no satisficiere … la multa impuesta, quedará sujeto a una responsabilidad personal subsidiaria …
If the convict does not comply with … the imposed fine, he or she shall be held liable therefor and subject to

13:19 Nov 20, 2018 

First, excellent find by Charles in that the Spanish statute provides an alternative to non-incarceration!

I do not agree with the use of "penalty" because that is a sentence. In other words, that has to be set by a judge at the time of sentencing or by revocation or modification of the previously imposed sentence. In Spain, the defendant is held liable by statute.

Let us consider the set Spanish phrase: pena de prisión derivada de la responsabilidad personal subsidiaria por impago de multas.

My suggestion: prison sentence stemming from personal contingent liability for failure to pay a fine.

12:30 Nov 18, 2018 

I've had a go, at excessive length, I'm afraid, but I wanted to be thorough.

14:43 Nov 17, 2018 

So your point is a valid one Charles, and I’m sure you’re right Richard, that it’s almost always a custodial sentence,

I have a fairly decent, unofficial but sworn translation of the entire Spanish criminal code that uses (the not so decent) phrase “personal subsidiary accountability for failure to pay fines” for “responsabilidad personal subsidiaria por impago de multa”.

Hopefully you’ll both post your suggestions, and we’ll see if anyone weighs in.

14:42 Nov 17, 2018 

I don’t think my limiting the term to custodial sentences has much bearing on the project I was working on since part of the appeal is centred on the argument shown in the context of my question: “No se impone cuando la pena privativa de libertad o en su conjunto superan los cinco años”, going on to say: “Con amparo en el art. 849.1 de la Ley procesal denuncia el error de derecho por la indebida aplicación del art. 53.3 del Código Penal pues el tribunal de instancia al condenar a la pena privativa de libertad de 3 años y tres meses y a la de multa con arresto sustitutorio de 1 año en caso de impago ha superado el límite establecido”, but that doesn’t mean that a better term shouldn’t be found, and the concise term “alternative penalty” might be a good option, especially as “alternative” seems to cover both the “alternative/non-custodial sentencing” (community service, etc.) element (https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/alternative-... and the intended meaning of “subsidiaria”.

14:42 Nov 17, 2018 

@Charles and Richard

I was in a rush to deliver, so I (incorrectly, it turns out) used “subsidiary custodial sentence” for “responsabilidad personal subsidiaria”, opting to use “alternative custodial sentence in case of non-payment of fine” for “arresto sustitutorio en caso de impago de la pena de multa”. One IATE glossary I have uses the (clumsy) rendering of “imprisonment as a substitute for non-collectible fine” for “arresto sustitutorio”.

Yes, we’re in Spain, and although I cited the same article 53, I didn’t spot the community service element, so yes, good point.

13:54 Nov 17, 2018 

I wonder if secondary penalty may fit the bill... This would cover potential community service orders, house arrest, etc. Your option, too, Charles of “alternative penalty” transmits the idea well.

13:41 Nov 17, 2018 

@Charles @Richard
You make a good point. Under Spanish legislation, this secondary penalty doesn’t have to be a custodial sentence. But in my experience as a Ministry of Justice court interpreter in Spain, it nearly always is. And the logic behind it is: if someone hasn’t paid a fine, they’re unlikely to pay a secondary fine. This is mirrored in the French legal system, too, in the form of “contrainte par corps” (imprisonment for failure to comply with contractural obligations”.

11:40 Nov 17, 2018 

I honestly don't think this is just nit-picking. The non-custodial alternative is not necessarily a minor issue (there's quite a lot of discussion of it online) and I think we need a term that embraces that possibility. "Incarceration" explicitly, and I think wrongly, excludes it.

11:33 Nov 17, 2018 

I wouldn't use the literal version, "subsidiary personal liability", though it's there in black and white in the Ministry of Justice's "official" version of the Código Penal and quite widely used when discussing criminal law in Spain. It's also enshrined in English in the Criminal Code of the Philippines. But I think "personal liability" is an entirely unsuitable expression here, and I also don't think "subsidiary" is the right word at all.

But what about something like "alternative penalty"? I yield to no one in my admiration of Rebecca's translation suggestions, but here I feel a rethink is needed.

11:05 Nov 17, 2018 

In practice it usually does mean incarceration (privación de libertad), but not necessarily. I am not at all sure it should be used as the translation.

This is regulated in Spain (we are in Spain, aren't we?) by Article 53 of the Criminal Code:

" Artículo 53
1. Si el condenado no satisficiere, voluntariamente o por vía de apremio, la multa impuesta, quedará sujeto a una responsabilidad personal subsidiaria de un día de privación de libertad por cada dos cuotas diarias no satisfechas, que, tratándose de delitos leves, podrá cumplirse mediante localización permanente. En este caso, no regirá la limitación que en su duración establece el apartado 1 del artículo 37.
También podrá el juez o tribunal, previa conformidad del penado, acordar que la responsabilidad subsidiaria se cumpla mediante trabajos en beneficio de la comunidad. En este caso, cada día de privación de libertad equivaldrá a una jornada de trabajo."
http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Penal/lo10-1995.l1t...

Note paragraph 2. There are non-custodial alternatives, and for minor offences even paragraph 1 mentiones "localización permanente" rather than imprisonment.

05:20 Nov 17, 2018 

"arresto sustitutorio en caso de impago"?

"arresto sustitutorio en caso de impago" appears in the next paragraph after the term "responsabilidad personal subsidiaria" is used:

La Sentencia de la Audiencia de Burgos (Sección 1ª) de [date], condenó al acusado [name] como autor de un delito de blanqueo de capitales, a la pena de tres años y seis meses de prisión y multa de 290.024 euros con un año de arresto sustitutorio en caso de impago.