TBILISI, DFWatch–The parliament in Georgia on Friday decided to end the practice of mandatory consecutive sentence.

Following the amendments to the Criminal Law code and Criminal Law Procedure Code, the longer sentence absorbs the shorter one; what is called concurrent sentence.

But in case of repeat offense, there is a combination where the longest sentence may only partly absorb the shorter one, and there is a cap of maximum 30 years for fixed-term imprisonment.

The amendments, which were passed at the first hearing, work retroactively, which means that they will apply to those who already are serving their term.