Second: A person who was sentenced to detention for one year or more in felony or misdemeanor
cases, and it is established he committed a misdemeanor before the lapse of five years from the
date of expiry of that penalty or the date of its abatement by prescription.
Third: A person against whom a ruling is passed confining him/her to prison for a period of less than
one year, or inflicting a fine thereon, in felony or misdemeanor eases, and it is established that
he/she has committed a misdemeanor similar to the first crime before the lapse of five years from
the date of the said judgement.
Theft, swindling, and breach of trust shall be considered similar misdemeanors in recidivism.
Vilification, affront, insult, and defamation shall also be considered similar crimes in recidivism.
Article 50
The judge, in case of recidivism as prescribed in the previous Article, may pronounce a ruling
inflicting more than the ceiling legally determined for the crime, providing the ruling shall not
exceed twice that ceiling.
However, the temporary hard labor penalty period, or the period of imprisonment shall not exceed
twenty years, in any case at all.
Article 51
lf a recidivist had been sentenced twice to custodial penalties, each time for a period of at least one
year or sentenced thrice to custodial penalties, one of them at least for a period of one year or more,
for a crime of theft, hiding stolen objects, swindling, breach of trust, forgery, or attempt of these
misdemeanors, then he is established to have committed a punishable misdemeanor of theft, hiding
stolen objects, swindling, breach of trust, forgery, or attempt thereof, after he had been sentenced
to the last penalty for such crimes, the judge may then sentence him to a hard labor penalty
ranging from two to five years instead of applying the provisions of the previous Article.
Article 52
If recidivism is established according to the provisions of the previous Article, the court - instead of
inflicting the penalty prescribed in that Article - may decide to consider the recidivist as habitual
offender, once it transpires to it from the conditions and motives of the crime, and the defendant's
past life and his status that there is a serious possibility he would embark on committing a new