The Spanish Prosecution has warned about a "systematic" application of the mitigation for improper delays, arising from significant delays in conducting trials, which effectively results in sentence reductions for several individuals linked to the PP corruption case.
The report, published by El País and based on official data from the prosecution office, indicates that this phenomenon is especially evident in cases where legal processes have been postponed over years due to institutional collapse at the National Court. The judicial body has recorded a substantial increase in judgments incorporating this mitigating factor, despite it not being automatically prescribed.
Among those affected are accusations related to what is known as "the frogs," an expression used to refer to various members of the PP allegedly involved in financial and administrative irregularities between 2013 and 2018. These cases were subject to multiple investigations by the General Prosecutor's Office.
According to official sources cited in El País' published article, trials have been delayed because of the deterioration of the National Court’s institutional capacity, which has faced an increasing number of demands and proceedings without sufficient operational capability to manage them efficiently. This situation has worsened from late 2024 through mid-2026.
There are no official statements regarding how long the delays have lasted or which specific sentences have been reduced; all such data comes solely from the official analysis by the Prosecutor's Office and is not available in verified public sources such as the institution's own website or reports published by authorized media.