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. In the crime recording system, hate crimes fall under the category of "politically motivated crime".
The Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism, together with one of the Agency's nine regional sub-divisions, are responsible for investigating such cases. The Agency's Annual Report on State Security includes a section on "right-wing extremism", with overall figures categorized as "right-wing extremist", "xenophobic/racist", "anti-Semitic" and "Islamophobic" (anti-Muslim) acts that are further grouped by type of crime (bodily harm, incitement, threat, damage to property, etc.). The Annual Report serves as the basis for different projects.
The main bias motivation is attributed to the offence in the proceedings based on the facts observed in the offence (such as victim's testimony, interrogation of the perpetrator and possible further investigations).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. 1, subpara. 5, of the Penal Code) stipulates that it is a special aggravating circumstance "when the act has been motivated by a racist, xenophobic or other particularly condemnable bias, especially those that are directed explicitly against groups, enumerated in section 283 CC, or members because of their membership to these groups."
Official Data
National developments
Within the framework of an EU-funded project aimed at improving hate crime recording, the Ministry of Interior conducted study visits to Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia. The Ministry also held 15 scientific field interviews with police officers and 17 meetings with various CSOs. The purpose of these meetings was to improve the system for recording hate crimes and to build trust. Furthermore, the Ministry of Interior launched an online training programme for its staff. At least 17,000 police officers had participated in the training programme by 19 October 2020. A further 200 police officers from the Federal Provinces were trained to deliver training events to front-line officers and to serve as contact points for CSOs and victim support organizations. On 1 November 2020, a new "flagging" system was introduced in the online police recording database, enabling the police to record bias motives related to age, handicap, gender, colour of skin, national or ethnic origin, religion (including subcategories), sexual orientation, social status or world view. The interfaces of the police and Ministry of Justice databases were also synchronized, so that the flagged hate crime data are also visible to prosecutors once the investigation reports are sent. Moreover, a resource for police on conducting interrogations now highlights the need to undertake a hate crime victim assessment before the interview. Information about hate crimes have been widely disseminated among the police force, and the country’s first representative victimization survey on hate crime is expected to be completed by the end of February 2021.
International reports
Racism and xenophobia, Bias against Muslims, Bias against other groups - Sexual orientation or gender identity
-
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "Sixth report on Austria."
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Austria has not reported on hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech.
