Netherlands
The Netherlands have reported hate crime data to ODIHR. The Netherlands' Criminal Code contains no hate crime provision. The framework for hate crime investigation and prosecution is set by guidance from the Office of the Public Prosecutor. The National Police and the National Expertise Centre on Discrimination of the Office of the Public Prosecutor are primarily responsible for hate crime data collection. Police statistics are published annually. The Central Bureau of Statistics conducts annual crime victimization surveys.
How hate crime data is collected
Dutch legislation does not include a definition of hate crime. The relevant data are based on "discrimination incidents". A discrimination incident is an occurrence that has been recorded in the BHV business processing system, and which includes (a combination of) words that can point to a discriminatory fact or a discriminatory (biased) aspect, or that has been flagged as discrimination (with a specific code) by police officers. Subject experts must have determined that: (1) an utterance or a behaviour can be identified that touches one of the discrimination grounds in the Criminal Code ("race", sex, religion, belief, sexual orientation and disability), also if the discrimination ground cannot be determined; or (2) this occurrence (probably) meets the elements of the articles 137c-g or 429 quarter of the Criminal Code, or the elements of a crime committed with a bias motive (codis). Marking property with swastikas is also considered discrimination and added to the list of discrimination incidents.
Collecting data about discrimination by the police has two objectives:
- Operational application: information at case level has immediate significance in tackling discrimination. Overviews of discrimination incidents are discussed periodically in the Regional Discrimination Consultation (RDO), where police units discuss the handling of discrimination cases with the Public Prosecution Service and the anti-discrimination agencies (ADAs).
- To report on the nature and level of the registered incidents and identifiable trends.
The yearly report on "Discrimination Figures" handles the discrimination incidents registered by the police and discrimination reported to the ADAs in the Netherlands in a particular year. The data are supplemented by other data gleaned from the contact point in the Netherlands for discrimination on the internet (MiND) and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (NIHR).
The Public Prosecutor Office's statistics are not based on incidents, but on a number of discrimination facts, which are registered and decided upon based on one of the discrimination articles in the Criminal Code: 137c-g and 429 quarter. One discrimination fact can include several discrimination incidents. Alongside the discrimination facts, the data include 'codis': facts where a discriminatory aspect has played a role as a motive or the crime committed has a strong impact.
The Criminal Discrimination Overview report is drafted by the National Centre of Expertise on Discrimination (LECD) within the Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO). This overview reports on the inflow and processing of specific discrimination offences in a particular year to the Public Prosecution.
The figures of judges are based on the number of court cases. One court case can include several discrimination facts which, in turn, can include several discrimination incidents.
Official Data
Hate crimes recorded by police
The police figures include hate speech incidents, data reported by local anti-discrimination services, and online hate speech incidents, which cannot be disaggregated. Hate crimes recorded by the police can only be disaggregated by either bias motivation or type of crime (both breakdowns were reported to ODIHR) but not simultaneously by both. The disaggregation below shows the total numbers for each bias motivation.
International reports
Racism and xenophobia, Bias against other groups - Sexual orientation or gender identity
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The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "Fifth Report on the Netherlands."
Racism and xenophobia
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The United Nations Human Rights Committee published relevant recommendations in its "Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of the Netherlands."
Key observation
ODIHR observes that the Netherlands have not reported on cases of hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech or discrimination
