Germany

In 2022, there were several ongoing projects to improve hate crime data, whereby police co-operated with victim associations and prevention institutions at the local level. For example, the Berlin Criminal Police Office co-operated with the Gay Anti-Violence Project "Maneo" and the Research and Information Centre for Antisemitism (RIAS). The Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Community started a research project on co-operation between civil society and the police in recording hate crime. The aim of the research project was to further improve co-operation between police forces and victim associations. The study is intended to identify best practices for such co-operation in Germany and abroad.

The Federal Ministry of Justice organizes a yearly conference on racism at the German Judicial Academy. In 2022, the conference addressed racism in connection with criminal law, and focused on prosecuting crimes involving racism, racist motives as aggravating circumstances, identifying racist motives, and protecting victims during criminal proceedings, among other topics. 

In addition, the Federal Ministry of Justice provided financial support to projects run by civil society organizations (CSOs) relevant to addressing hate crimes. One such project, titled "Digital Violence in a Volatile Environment: New Phenomena, Forms of Violence and Groups of Victims" and run by the CSO HateAid, deals with new and virulent developments in the field of digital violence.

In November 2022, the German Federal Government's National Strategy against Antisemitism and for Jewish Life was adopted. Addressing anti-Semitic hate crime and tackling under-reporting are key issues featured in the document.

In 2022, a project of the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) on racism, anti-Semitism and right-wing extremism, funded by the Ministry of Justice was completed. The aim of the project was to make the prosecution of racist and anti-Semitic crimes more effective and, in particular, to increase the number of reported crimes. In particular, the project was designed to improve the structures of co-operation between various actors – including within the justice system, public prosecutor's office, police, and victim protection associations – as part of pilot projects in three Länder. In addition, action strategies were developed to establish or expand appropriate co-operation structures, such as the creation of round tables on relevant crimes, appointment of contact persons in the public prosecutor's office, the police and the courts for victims of such crimes, and further development of existing structures or those currently being set up in the area of victim protection (such as central contact points, victim advocates, psychosocial process support) with regard to the specific target group of victims of racist, anti-Semitic and right-wing extremist crimes.