What is Spain's 'Parot Doctrine'?

The 'Parot doctrine' was first adopted by Spain's Supreme Court in 2006 to restrict ETA prisoners' entitlement to early release and other benefits. It ensures that remission for work done in prison is deducted from the total sentence rather than the 30-year limit under Spanish law.

The case-law of the Spanish Supreme Court on prison benefits (particularly remission) changed in 2006. Although, under a judgment of 8 March 1994, the maximum term of 30 years provided for in Article 70 of the 1973 Criminal Code acted as a "new and autonomous sentence, to which the prison benefit provided for by law was applicable", the Supreme Court changed its position in a judgment of 28 February 2006 and introduced the so-called "Parot doctrine", under which remission was to be applied to each sentence individually, and not to the maximum 30-year term.

The name comes from convicted ETA member Unai Parot, who was the first to see his prison penalty extended.

The European Court of Human Rights decreed in July 2012 that the it was in violation of human rights.