Court records contradict Ministry of Justice version regarding mandatory sentence reductions for sex offenders
“Rabat rejected at least nine sentence reductions and contested them in court: judges ruled in his favor in six and did not grant the benefit - CIPER Chile”
Forensic Headline Assessment: The original headline details the specific numerical findings of the investigation, while the sanitized version prioritizes institutional confrontation in a strictly neutral manner.
A journalistic investigation based on Judiciary records revealed that the Chilean Ministry of Justice litigated to reject sentence reductions for sex offenders against minors at the beginning of the current administration, obtaining favorable rulings in six of nine disputed cases. This background contrasts with the statements of Minister Fernando Rabat before the Chamber of Deputies, where he maintained that the law obliged him to grant such benefits.
On October 29, Minister of Justice Fernando Rabat explained before Parliament that his portfolio modified its initial rejection criteria after receiving an adverse habeas corpus appeal, adopting a doctrine that allows granting sentence reductions without litigation. However, the review of case files conducted by CIPER shows that between March and May of this year, the ministry denied requests through decrees that were subsequently backed by the courts.
Of the nine identified cases in which the ministry contested the reductions in court, six rulings ratified the refusal to grant the benefit, including five rulings issued by the Supreme Court and one by the Court of Appeals of Valparaíso. The latest ruling favorable to the ministerial stance occurred on June 15, the day before the signing of the first decree under the new doctrine.
Legal specialists and representatives of victim support foundations have questioned the Executive's change in criteria, pointing out the existence of recent judicial precedents in the Supreme Court that supported maintaining the rejection of sentence reductions to protect the rights of children.
- The Ministry of Justice initially rejected sentence reduction requests for sex offenders against minors in 2026.
- The ministry litigated in at least nine court cases to prevent such reductions.
- The courts ruled in favor of the ministry in six of those cases, ratifying the denial of the benefit.
- Minister Rabat declared before the Chamber of Deputies that the law imposed the obligation to grant the reductions.
Corroborates: Rabat rejected at least nine sentence reductions and contested them in court: judges ruled in his favor in six and did not grant the benefit - CIPER Chile