Netherlands

How hate crime data is collected

Dutch legislation does not include a definition of hate crime. The relevant data are based on "discrimination incidents". A discrimination incident is an occurrence that has been recorded in the BHV business processing system, and which includes (a combination of) words that can point to a discriminatory fact or a discriminatory (biased) aspect, or that has been flagged as discrimination (with a specific code) by police officers. Subject experts must have determined that: (1) an utterance or a behaviour can be identified that touches one of the discrimination grounds in the Criminal Code ("race", sex, religion, belief, sexual orientation and disability), also if the discrimination ground cannot be determined; or (2) this occurrence (probably) meets the elements of the articles 137c-g or 429 quarter of the Criminal Code, or the elements of a crime committed with a bias motive (codis). Marking property with swastikas is also considered discrimination and added to the list of discrimination incidents.

Collecting data about discrimination by the police has two objectives:

1. Operational application: information at case level has immediate significance in tackling discrimination. Overviews of discrimination incidents are discussed periodically in the Regional Discrimination Consultation (RDO), where police units discuss the handling of discrimination cases with the Public Prosecution Service and the anti-discrimination agencies (ADAs).
2. To report on the nature and level of the registered incidents and identifiable trends.

The yearly report on "Discrimination Figures" handles the discrimination incidents registered by the police and discrimination reported to the ADAs in the Netherlands in a particular year. The data are supplemented by other data gleaned from the contact point in the Netherlands for discrimination on the internet (MiND) and the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (NIHR).

The Public Prosecutor Office's statistics are not based on incidents, but on a number of discrimination facts, which are registered and decided upon based on one of the discrimination articles in the Criminal Code: 137c-g and 429 quarter. One discrimination fact can include several discrimination incidents. Alongside the discrimination facts, the data include 'codis': facts where a discriminatory aspect has played a role as a motive or the crime committed has a strong impact.

The Criminal Discrimination Overview report is drafted by the National Centre of Expertise on Discrimination (LECD) within the Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO). This overview reports on the inflow and processing of specific discrimination offences in a particular year to the Public Prosecution.

The figures of judges are based on the number of court cases. One court case can include several discrimination facts which, in turn, can include several discrimination incidents.