Why to reduce the sentence in crimes of preparation

Abstract

In these pages, the inclusion of preparatory actions in the Spanish Penal Code is criticized once more. Specifically, this contribution is centered on providing several motives for which it is judged necessary to reduce the currently defined sentences for the “crimes of preparation.” The thesis maintained here is based on the distinction between two periods of time or basic moments of penal responsibility of all human behavior: the first, the relevance of the effects or results of a crime; the second, the valuation of the intensity of its preparation.