Andorra Court Hands 18-Month Conditional Sentence for Sharing Joint with Minor

A young woman has received an 18-month conditional prison sentence from the Tribunal de Corts after sharing a marijuana cigarette with a 17-year-old friend in Andorra's Parc Central in June 2023. She also faced penalties for carrying an oversized knife and two counts of public cannabis consumption.

Plainclothes officers, conducting training nearby, spotted the pair sharing what appeared to be a cigarette. The women initially denied drug use, but a partially smoked joint was found beside them after they stood up. The 18-year-old defendant admitted during trial to smoking marijuana but insisted her friend—nearly 18 at the time—had only smoked regular tobacco. Officers discovered a knife in her fanny pack exceeding the legal limit by one centimetre, leading to charges of illegally supplying toxic drugs to a minor and unlawful weapon possession.

Judges imposed 18 months' conditional imprisonment for the drug supply offense, two months' conditional nighttime house arrest for the knife, and for the public consumption counts, one month of conditional nighttime house arrest plus €300 fines each. One report noted €360 in civil liability fines, but core penalties align across accounts. The sentence includes probation terms requiring proof of compliance.

In a separate ruling, the Tribunal de Corts sentenced a young man to 20 months in prison for minor hashish smuggling into Andorra for sale—six months firm, the rest conditional on stable employment—plus a two-year suspension and €3,000 fine. He also drew a €1,000 fine for ongoing personal hashish use. The court stipulated a coprinces' pardon would apply once finalised, sparing him actual prison time.

The Tribunal Superior meanwhile partially upheld an appeal from the youth known as the "catana boy," cutting his house arrest from four to three months over a clash with a prison officer. He blamed side effects from prescribed Rubifen and Rivotril, deemed unsuitable by a SAAS psychiatrist and capable of impairing his judgment. His lawyers cited an uncontrollable reaction after being denied return to his cell, seeking partial exoneration, and highlighted his reformed life with employment, sports, and drug abstinence despite a record including drugs, injuries, threats, and attempted murder. The reduced term remains conditional on job verification.

Elsewhere, the Tribunal Superior rejected a bid for semi-liberty by one convict in the Buiques case, upholding denial of house arrest regime. The men, brothers, had hired a hitman over a business debt with the former Construccions Buiques manager, actions deemed premeditated and gravely serious. Initial sentences were four and four-and-a-half years; defense pleas of good prison conduct and family time over Christmas failed to sway judges, who stressed ongoing preventive and retributive aims.