This page provides information on the national frameworks to address hate crime in Serbia. The information provided here should be viewed alongside data presented on Serbia's hate crime report page.

Hate crime recording and data collection

The police records and reports on incidents committed on the basis of national, racial and religious hatred and intolerance, based on the reports of regional police administrations and other bodies and units of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia, and according to a special methodology developed at the Directorate for Analytics in 2004.

Hate crimes are recorded manually, and there is no special database in which hate crimes are registered.

The Public Prosecution Office registers criminal offences committed out of hatred in accordance with the Instructions of the Supreme Public Prosecution Office from 2015. The central record, which contains consolidated data on the actions of all public prosecution offices, is kept by the Supreme Public Prosecution Office. This record, in addition to other data, also contains data on the motives of a criminal offence.

According to the general mandatory instruction of the Supreme Public Prosecution Office from 2018, public prosecutors have been appointed in all Public Prosecution Offices to act as hate crime contact points and monitor the recording of these crimes. To perform this role, public prosecutors must have completed specialized training.

The annual report of the Supreme Public Prosecution Office contains data on all hate crimes, as well as on crimes of inciting hatred. The aforementioned data are publicly available on the website of the Supreme Public Prosecution Office.

The Guidelines for Prosecuting Hate Crimes from 2018, which were presented at numerous trainings organized by the Judicial Academy, are of particular importance for the efficient action of public prosecutors in the prosecution of hate crimes.

Hate crime victim support

Support for victims of hate crimes in the Republic of Serbia is available within the general victim support system.

Since 2017, the Public Prosecution Offices have services providing information and support to aggrieved parties (victims) and witnesses. The services are tasked with improving the support provided, including informational and logistical support, with the aim of facilitating their participation in the procedure and preventing their secondary victimization. These services co-operate informally with the CSOs that provide victim support services, including legal advice, psychological counselling or specialized support for victims of hate crimes.

In addition, hate crime contact points within Public Prosecution Offices are responsible for liaising with victims, and maintaining communication with specialized civil society organizations that provide support to victims of hate crimes.

The Criminal Procedure Code prescribes various forms of protection and support for victims, as well as a number of procedural rights, including the right to a translator/interpreter, attorney, case file review, and information and notification about the decisions made by the procedural authorities, among other rights.

Victims can receive the status of an especially vulnerable victim. If granted, this status allows for the appointment of an ex officio attorney, as well as a series of special safeguards, including rules on the questioning of victims. For example, for particularly vulnerable victims, questioning may only be conducted by the authority conducting the criminal proceedings, which is obliged to show special diligence and care. The particularly vulnerable victim status also allows for a psychologist, social worker or other expert to be called upon to help examine particularly vulnerable victims, who may also be examined using audio-visual equipment and without the presence of the defendant and other persons.

Hate crime capacity building

The Professional Training Programme for Basic Police Training Students for the Position of Police Officer, as well as the Professional Training Programmes for Basic Police Training Students for the Positions of Traffic Police Officer, Traffic Police Officer for Traffic Accidents and Border Police Officer, within the subject Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, teaching unit "Penalties", provides for the treatment of basic concepts from Article 54a of the Criminal Code under the title "Special Circumstances for Determining the Punishment for a Crime Committed Out of Hate".

Continuous professional development of police officers takes place according to annual programmes adopted by the Minister of the Interior, and is mandatory for police officers who directly exercise police powers. Professional development programmes include modules on human rights and working with vulnerable groups.

The topic of hate crime is included in the Judicial Academy's training plan for public prosecutors. The training plan also incorporates guidelines on hate crime prosecution and relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights.