Indicator history

International bodies and non-governmental organisations report that the Police is reluctant to intervene in hate crimes and point out the problems of the law-enforcement officers' misconduct towards minority groups (e.g. Roma) and racial profiling. Besides, the Police often do not take into account the racist motivation of crimes, which results in a lighter sentence for the perpetrator, if convinced. However, it should be stressed that the Public Prosecutor's Office has recently become more effective in dealing with racially motivated offences. In 2007 the National Centre for Training Employees of Common Courts and Prosecution Authorities  (NCTECCPA) carried out a project “The role of prosecutors in an effective prevention of discrimination” targeted at prosecutors active in tasks related to preventing discrimination on grounds of i.e. race, ethnic origin, religion and creed. Besides the number of relevant indictments brought to courts has increased. In 2009 there were 28 indictments brought to courts (in the years 2000-2003 there were 7 indictments, in 2004 – 6 indictments, in 2005 – 7, in 2006 – 12, in 2007 – 19 indictments and 2 cases were brought to courts for summary judgement, in 2008 there were 28 indictments).

International bodies and non-governmental organisations report that the Police is reluctant to intervene in hate crimes and point out the problems of the law-enforcement officers' misconduct towards minority groups (e.g. Roma) and racial profiling. Besides, the Police often do not take into account the racist motivation of crimes, which results in a lighter sentence for the perpetrator, if convinced. However, it should be stressed that the Public Prosecutor's Office has recently become more effective in dealing with racially motivated offences. In 2007 the National Centre for Training Employees of Common Courts and Prosecution Authorities  (NCTECCPA) carried out a project “The role of prosecutors in an effective prevention of discrimination” targeted at prosecutors active in tasks related to preventing discrimination on grounds of i.e. race, ethnic origin, religion and creed. Besides the number of relevant indictments brought to courts has increased. In 2009 there were 28 indictments brought to courts (in the years 2000-2003 there were 7 indictments, in 2004 – 6 indictments, in 2005 – 7, in 2006 – 12, in 2007 – 19 indictments and 2 cases were brought to courts for summary judgement, in 2008 there were 28 indictments).

In 2011, police officers were informed about the guidelines of the Chief of Police (running the National Police Headquarters – KGP) concerning the proceeding in social conflicts grounded in nationality. Moreover, a specialist course for police officers is conducted, which covers the counteraction and fight against hate crimes of a cascading character. In 2011, 115 police officers were trained on the central level, while – locally – more than 38,000 police officers.

As to proceedings concerning crimes committed for racist or xenophobic reasons, prosecutors in 2011 were conducting 322 proceedings, including 272 new proceedings. In about 40 of them indictments were filed, 134 cases were dismissed, and in 91 cases preparatory proceedings were refused to be initiated [1].

Source:

Prokuratura Generalna, 13.06.2012, Ofiary przestępstw z nienawiści (The victims of the hate crimes), http://www.pg.gov.pl/index.php?0,821,3,512, Accessed on 12.12.2012.