Section 17: General provisions apply to other laws

Supreme Court decisions interpreting this section

1. Supreme Court Judgment No. 1856/2567 (2024)

   Because Section 17 extends the Penal Code's general provisions to offenses under other laws, a repeat offender under the drug legislation may still have the penalty increased under the Penal Code even though the special drug law contains no recidivism provision.

   The former recidivism enhancement under the old drug law had been repealed and the new law contained none. The Court reasoned that, since Section 17 makes the Penal Code's general provisions applicable to offenses under other laws, the absence of a recidivism clause in the special drug law does not bar the court from increasing the penalty under the Penal Code's general recidivism rules where the defendant reoffends without reform.

2. Supreme Court Judgment No. 3374/2566 (2023)

   Section 17 allows the Penal Code's general recidivism enhancement to be applied to a repeat drug offender even though the special narcotics statute itself provides no recidivism enhancement.

   The Court noted that neither the repealed law in force at the time of the offense nor the later law provided for a recidivism enhancement, so a straight enhancement could be heavier than the later statute allows and warranted re-fixing of the penalty. Even so, because Section 17 carries the Penal Code's general provisions into offenses under other laws, the silence of the special drug statute does not prevent the court from applying the general recidivism enhancement.

Curated decisions with case numbers verified against the Supreme Court database. English renderings are the firm's editorial translation for study.