Poland
Poland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Poland's Criminal Code contains several substantive offences. Data reported to ODIHR include crimes of incitement to hatred. Hate crime data is collected by the Department of Control, Complaints and Petitions of Ministry of the Interior, the General Police Headquarters, the Internal Security Agency, the Preparatory Proceedings Office of the General Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Institute of National Remembrance – General Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation and the Ombudsman's Office. Hate crime data is regularly published. Poland conducts a victimization survey containing questions on hate crimes.
How hate crime data is collected
All offences committed against people because of their racial, national, ethnic or religious background are classified as hate crimes. While there are no general guidelines on hate crime recording, police officers are required to establish whether the perpetrator was acting out of bias motivation. Bias indicators such as behaviour and statements during the act, circumstances of the crime and characteristics and circumstances connected with the victim are used to determine the motive.
Hate crimes are flagged on the incident form as well as in the police force’s electronic database.
Special co-ordinators at both the central (the National Hate Crime Coordinator in Criminal Bureau of the General Police Headquarters) and local levels (in every Voivodeship police headquarters and in the Metropolitan Police Headquarters) are responsible for the prevention and investigation of hate crimes, as well as for compiling the data from their district and reporting them monthly to the National Police Information System (KSIP). Monthly reports are forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration. The same structure is also used to monitor hate speech incidents, which are crimes under the Polish Penal Code. However, these can be separated in the reporting. Data from the police are available on request.
Prosecutors record hate crimes when bias motivations are identified in the proceedings or implicit in the crime. Guidelines on conducting proceedings in hate crimes cases issued by the prosecutor general in 2014 unify practices for prosecution as well as for reporting hate crimes. Every prosecuted hate crime should be reported to a superior Prosecutor's Office and the cases are also monitored by the Department of Preparatory Proceedings of the National Public Prosecutor's Office, which issues a report on all cases to the Prosecutor General and provides recommendations to subordinate Prosecutor's Offices. The National Public Prosecutor's Office publishes data on hate crime online every six months. Published data contain excerpts from reports on investigations conducted in the organizational units of the prosecutor in a given period of time.
The Division of Statistical Management Information in the Department of Strategy and European Funds of Ministry of Justice is responsible for organizing, co-ordinating, supervising and preparing statistical reports, including information on hate crimes. The data are obtained from two sources: from statistical reports prepared by courts every six months and from the electronic database of the National Criminal Register. The data are published online.
Besides collating the reports from police and receiving information on judicial outcomes from the courts, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration also conducts its own independent monitoring activities.
Official Data
Hate crimes recorded by police
The numbers presented here refer to police investigations initiated as hate crimes. The numbers also include incidents of hate speech, which are considered crimes under Polish penal law.
National developments
The Prosecutor's Office has introduced improvements to the methods through which it gathers information on hate crime prosecutions and compiles statistics from across the country.
In implementing the Memorandum of Understanding of 2015, ODIHR has, in co-operation with the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution, worked with 24 prosecutors to make them capable of training others on hate crime. The new trainers should cascade the PAHCT training to their colleagues.
International reports
Racism and xenophobia
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In its "Concluding observations on the fourth report of Poland," the United Nations Human Rights Committee recommended that the authorities should amend the Criminal Code to make bias motivation an aggravating circumstance for any crime, and to thoroughly investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of hate crimes.
Racism and xenophobia, Bias against other groups - Sexual orientation or gender identity, Bias against other groups – People with disabilities
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In the framework of Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern that Poland's criminal code did not include disability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity as bias motivations for hate crimes. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recommended that Poland amend its criminal code to make any racial motivation for a crime an aggravating circumstance.
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In its report, the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Poland, recommended that the criminal code be amended to include sexual orientation, gender identity and disability among the protected characteristics listed in its hate crime provisions.
Anti-Semitism
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The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office on Combating Anti-Semitism, in his report on a country visit to Poland, commended the authorities for developing an operational relationship with ODIHR, recommending this relationship as a best practice for all participating States.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Poland has not reported on hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech.
