If you or a family member is serving a sentence and you want to know how to shorten the time actually spent in prison, this is the area for you. Prison benefits allow, under certain conditions, earlier access to parole in recognition of good behaviour, participation in activities, or work carried out during imprisonment.

• Advanced parole (Art. 91 Criminal Code and Art. 205 Prison Regulations): the possibility of bringing parole forward by up to 90 days per year served, depending on participation in work, cultural or occupational activities.
• Extraordinary advancement (Art. 91.3 Criminal Code): for inmates with proven good conduct who actively take part in victim-reparation or detoxification programmes.
• Assessment of the reintegration prognosis as a prerequisite for accessing these benefits.
• Advice on how to document participation in treatment programmes before the Treatment Board.

If it’s been a long time since you last saw a family member outside the prison, or there’s a serious family situation (an illness, a death, a birth) and you need them to be allowed out even for a few hours, there are ways to request this. There are also periodic leave permits to help maintain ties with the outside world, which are key to successful reintegration.

• Ordinary leave permits (Art. 47.2 LOGP and Arts. 154 to 159 Prison Regulations): up to 36 or 48 days a year, depending on the classification grade, for second- and third-grade inmates with good conduct.
• Extraordinary leave permits (Art. 47.1 LOGP and Art. 155 Prison Regulations): for serious, duly justified cases such as the death or serious illness of a family member, or births, regardless of classification grade.
• Preparing and filing the request with the Treatment Board.
• Appealing if the leave request is denied.

When a prison decision (denial of leave, a disciplinary sanction, denial of a grade progression, etc.) is unfavourable, there is a judicial route to challenge it. The prison supervision court is responsible for ensuring the prison authorities act in accordance with the law and respect the inmate’s rights.

• Appeal against decisions of the prison authorities (Art. 76 LOGP): denial of leave, disciplinary sanctions, grade classifications, among others.
• Complaints and requests regarding the conditions under which the sentence is being served.
• Reconsideration and appeal against the prison supervision court’s own decisions.
• Prior review of viability and deadlines before filing the appeal.

If you’ve been serving your sentence under a closed or ordinary regime for a while and feel it’s time to apply for greater freedom (day release, semi-open regime), this is the procedure that makes it possible. The classification grade determines the inmate’s regime of life, and progressing to a higher grade is one of the central goals of any defence strategy in this area.

• Classification into grades (Art. 63 LOGP and Arts. 100 to 108 Prison Regulations): first grade (closed regime), second grade (ordinary regime) and third grade (open or semi-open regime).
• Progression to third grade: access to semi-open regimes, with daily release to work or study, sleeping at the centre or at a social integration facility.
• Article 100.2 of the Prison Regulations: the possibility of mixed grades combining elements of different regimes.
• Preparing the file and support before the Treatment Board when requesting progression.
• Appeal before the prison supervision court if the request is denied.