Germany

How hate crime data is collected

In Germany, the police collect nationwide data on politically motivated crime, including hate crimes. Data collection is based on a code of practice, guidelines and instructions. These were co-ordinated and agreed between the German Federal Government and the governments of the German Länder in working groups that are part of the standing conference of the Ministers of the Interior.

Hate crimes are defined as follows for reporting purposes: "Hate crime comprises politically motivated crimes, when – in recognition of the circumstances of the offence and/or the attitude of the offender – there are indications that the offence has been directed against a person because of his/her nationality, ethnicity, "race", skin colour, religion, origin, appearance, disability, sexual orientation or social status." The act has to be committed in a cause-effect relationship with one of these motives, and be directed against an institution or an object.

When a victim reports a hate crime, or if police officers identify a hate crime, the local police will fill out a form. Among other things, the form collects the following information: administrative data (e.g., department and file number), a brief description of the facts, the time of the crime, the crime scene, the target, information on the suspect, information on the victim (especially on the victim's characteristics), the infringed law, the quality of the crime, the phenomena and whether it is an extremist crime. In addition, the act is assigned to one of 11 "subtopics": anti-Semitism, "antiziganism", disability, xenophobia, social status, racism, religion, sexual orientation, anti-Christian, anti-Islamic and other ethnicity.

The report is then sent by the local police to the Criminal Police Offices of the German Länder (Landeskriminalämter). The specialists of the Criminal Police Offices of the German Länder check the information and clarify any possible open questions with the responsible local police stations. After this initial quality control process, the information is passed on to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). The BKA evaluates and analyses the nationwide data and returns the results of the analysis to the German Länder.

The statistics on reported cases are based on the findings of the investigating police officers and the information obtained by them about the motivation of the offender. Up to one month before the end of the year, the reported figures can be corrected and changes resulting from findings by the prosecution services or the courts factored in. This may be the case, for example, if it transpires that a bias motivation cannot be proved or that an alleged offender cannot be held accountable for a crime. The main purpose of this data collection activity is to help the state make strategic, evidence-based decisions on how to prevent hate crimes.

In January 2018, the first Länder Judicial Administration began collecting statistical data on hate crimes. On 1 January 2019, the data collection was implemented nationwide. The Länder transmits data to the Federal Office of Justice, which aggregates the figures for the whole of Germany. For statistical purposes, criminal offences will be classified as hate crime if, upon assessing the circumstances of the offence and/or the attitude taken by the perpetrator, there are indications that they are directed against a person on the basis of that person's actual or assumed nationality, ethnic origins, skin colour, religion, beliefs, physical and/or psychological disability or impairment, sexual orientation and/or sexual identity, political position, political views and/or political involvement, appearance or status in society.