Hungary
Hungary regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Hungary's criminal code contains several substantive offences. The Ministry of Interior, the Prosecutor's Office and the Criminal Police Department of the National Police Headquarters collect data on hate crime as part of general crime statistics.
How hate crime data is collected
The Hungarian Police does not have a special unit to record or investigate hate crimes. However, a list of hate crime indicators to help police detect and classify hate crimes more precisely has been developed by criminal justice bodies and civil society groups. The Hungarian Police does not have special forms or templates for recording, reporting on or collecting data on hate crime cases. The protocol for each criminal offence is identical. When the protocol is recorded, officers can mark potential hate crimes and bias motivation on a statistical card, and should include bias indicators in the description field in text format. The prosecutor's office does not have separate records on hate crimes.
As of January 2019, judicial statistics recognize bias motivation underlying the criminal offence. The statistics follow protected characteristics included in the Criminal Code’s article 216 (crime of violence against a member of the community) – namely nationality, ethnic origin, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation and disability – and are not disaggregated by the specific targeted group.
Official Data
National developments
An internal police regulation on hate crime investigation has been developed, with a view to introducing it to police practice in 2019, and will include a methodological guidance, including a list of bias indicators elaborated earlier by a working group of state and civil society organizations. The regulation's implementation will be made mandatory by an order of the police chief.
The Ministry of Interior, together with ODIHR and FRA, organized a workshop for police and other criminal justice agencies involved in recording hate crimes. The workshop produced a set of recommendations on improving hate crime registration, which were provided to the Ministry to be conveyed to police for implementation.
International reports
No information is available.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Hungary’s law enforcement agencies have not recorded the bias motivations of hate crimes.
