Austria
Austria regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Austria's hate crime laws are a combination of a general penalty-enhancement provision and a substantive offence. The data reported to ODIHR do not present cases of hate crime and hate speech separately. Hate crime data are collected by the Provincial Agencies for State Protection and Counter Terrorism and the Federal Agency for State Protection and Counter Terrorism (BVT) of the Interior Ministry, as well as by the Ministry of Justice. Hate crime data are regularly published.
How hate crime data is collected
Hate crime data are collected and recorded according to specific types of crimes found in the criminal code. There is no specific system in place for the police to record hate crimes by bias motivation. The information found in the criminal file may lead to the attribution of a bias motivation in the proceedings.
The Austrian penal code provision contains a general sentencing enhancement for bias motivated crime that is applicable to nearly all crimes. This provision (§33 para. 5 of the Penal Code) – states that "it is a special aggravating circumstance when the act has been motivated by a racist, xenophobic or other particularly condemnable motive."
The information gathered is integrated into the annual Austrian Report on State Security (issued by the Federal Agency for State Protection and Counter Terrorism) and serves as basis for different projects.
Official Data
National developments
Police officers participated in a workshop on prevention and sensitization.
International reports
Racism and xenophobia
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In its "Resolution on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities", the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers recommended that Austria combat hate crime more effectively through investigation and prosecution.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Austria has not reported on hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech.
