Austria - 2012
If there is a legal provision on racist motivation as an aggravating factor, how often is it applied? What kind of sanctions/penalties are issued?
- Code:
- RED30
- Key Area:
- Anti-racist Crime Legislation & Implementation
- Strand(s):
- Racism
| Short Answer |
Racist or xenophobic motivations as an aggravating factor of an ordinary crime are very rarely applied. They should be taken into account when it comes to the question of the scope of the penalty. |
| Qualitative Info |
Sec. 33 Criminal Code stipulates that racist, xenophobic or other particularly condemnable motivations are an aggravating factor of an ordinary crime (to be taken into account when it comes to the question of the scope of the penalty). However, ECRI criticised that Sec. 33 item 5 Criminal Code was ‘very rarely applied’, and that ‘no court decision implementing this provision has been noted’. The application of this provision is not recorded in any official statistics. The weak application of this provision is regarded by some NGOs the result of the police (recording complaints), the public prosecutor and the trial courts not taking racist and xenophobic motives seriously enough. Sources: http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10002296; http://hudoc.ecri.coe.int/XMLEcri/ENGLISH/Cycle_04/04_CbC_eng/AUT-CbC-IV-2010-002-ENG.pdf |
| Groups affected/interested | Migrants, Refugees, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Asylum seekers |
| Type (R/D) | Extremism - organised Racist Violence, Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Intra-ethnic |
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