JUSTICE Hate crime recording and data collection practice across the EU Photo (cover & inside): © fra.europa.eu (Luc Schwartz); stock.adobe.com (rcfotostock); stock.adobe.com (g0d4ather). For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under FRA’s copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 Print: ISBN 978-92-9474-064-9 doi:10.2811/239809 TK-01-18-459-EN-C Web: ISBN 978-92-9474-063-2 doi:10.2811/2153 TK-01-18-159-EN-N © European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2018 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Neither the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights nor any person acting on behalf of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information. Hate crime recording and data collection practice across the EU Foreword Across the European Union, people still face hatred because of their skin colour, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexuality – despite various efforts by the EU and its Member States to tackle this problem. Laws against hate crime are in place, imposing increased penalties for bias motivation, and diverse services are available for victims. Are these measures enough? There are two major catches. Only a fraction of victims report hate-motivated harassment and violence to the police. Moreover, even when they do, police officers do not always flag them as hate crimes. Some may not recognise certain incidents as stemming from prejudice. Others may simply lack the necessary practical tools, such as incident reporting forms, that allow racist motivation to be noted – or the inclination to provide informa- tion not always deemed obligatory. This means these hate crimes remain unidentified or unrecorded – and thus un-investigated, unprosecuted, uncounted and, ultimately, invisible. The ramifications are multi-layered and mutually reinforcing. Law enforcement and policymakers may underesti- mate the scale and nature of the problem. As a result, measures to prevent and curtail it, and to support victims, may fall short. Individuals left without redress – as well as their loved ones and even communities as a whole – will feel little faith in a system that fails to adequately address their plight, further discouraging reporting. Social cohesion, too, can suffer. Encouragingly, initiatives to counter this troubling cycle are gaining momentum. They include producing relevant guidance for police officers; requiring the collection of detailed and disaggregated data on crime, rendering vis- ible that motivated by bias; and working with civil society organisations experienced in dealing with hate crime. This report adds to the momentum by providing rich and detailed information on hate crime recording and data collection systems across the EU, including any systemic cooperation with civil society. It can support efforts to strengthen recording and data collection as well as capacity-building activities to counter hate crime – essential elements of effectively combating prejudice, supporting victims and fostering inclusive societies. We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the Subgroup on methodologies for recording and collecting data on hate crime – this report would not have been possible without their contributions. Michael O’Flaherty Director 3 Hate crime recording and data collection practice across the EU Country codes Country code EU Member State AT Austria BE Belgium BG Bulgaria CY Cyprus CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DK Denmark EE Estonia EL Greece ES Spain FI Finland FR France HR Croatia HU Hungary IE Ireland IT Italy LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg LV Latvia MT Malta NL Netherlands PL Poland PT Portugal RO Romania SE Sweden SK Slovakia SI Slovenia UK United Kingdom 4 Acronyms and abbreviations CC Criminal Code CEJI Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe CSO Civil society organisation ECHR European Convention on Human Rights ECRI European Commission against Racism and Intolerance ECtHR European Court of Human Rights ENAR European Network Against Racism EU-MIDIS European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey GPR General Policy Recommendation ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination IGO Intergovernmental organisation OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation ODIHR OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights SDG Sustainable Development Goal 5 Contents FOREWORD .......................................................................................................................................................3 WHY THIS REPORT? ........................................................................................................................................ 9 KEY FINDINGS AND FRA OPINIONS ............................................................................................................... 11 1 INTERNATIONAL NORMS, STANDARDS AND GUIDANCE ON HATE CRIME RECORDING AND DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................................... 13 2 COMPARATIVE OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION AT NATIONAL LEVEL ....................................................19 2.1. Recording hate crime .............................................................................................................................19 2.2. Collecting and publishing disaggregated hate crime data ................................................................23 2.3. Cooperation between law enforcement agencies and civil society organisations ......................25 3 RECORDING AND COLLECTING DATA ON HATE CRIME IN THE EU-28 .................................................. 27 Austria............................................................................................................................................................. 28 Belgium ........................................................................................................................................................... 30 Bulgaria ............................................................................................................................................................33 Croatia ..............................................................................................................................................................35 Cyprus ............................................................................................................................................................. 37 Czech Republic ............................................................................................................................................... 39 Denmark ..........................................................................................................................................................41 Estonia ............................................................................................................................................................ 43 Finland ............................................................................................................................................................ 45 France .............................................................................................................................................................49 Germany ..........................................................................................................................................................52 Greece..............................................................................................................................................................55 Hungary .......................................................................................................................................................... 57 Ireland .............................................................................................................................................................60 Italy 62 Latvia ..............................................................................................................................................................64 Lithuania .........................................................................................................................................................66 Luxembourg ...................................................................................................................................................68 Malta ............................................................................................................................................................... 70 The Netherlands ............................................................................................................................................ 72 Poland ............................................................................................................................................................. 74 Portugal .......................................................................................................................................................... 76 Romania.......................................................................................................................................................... 78 Slovakia .........................................................................................................................................................