Statistics on prosecuted and sentenced cases are not available, as data on bias motivations are not recorded.
The breakdown below does not include cases of abuse of public authority and of a civil nature reported to ODIHR, as they fall outside of the OSCE's hate crime definition. The category "Threats/Threatening behaviour" may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's hate crime definition but could not be separated from the hate crime cases.
In 2022, the Anti-Racism Platform was formally launched as one of the measures envisaged under Malta's Anti-Racism Strategy 2021-2023. The Inter-ministerial Committee on Anti-Racism (IMC-AR) commenced its work.
In 2021, a newly adopted law introduced an increase in punishment for offences, including violent offences, that were "aggravated or motivated, wholly or in part by hatred against a person or a group, on the grounds of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, colour, language, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, citizenship, religion or belief or political or other opinion."
This category includes hate crime cases motivated by anti-Semitic and anti-Roma bias. One case of abuse of public authority and one case of a civil nature were recorded in this category but not included here.
This category includes hate crime cases motivated by bias against Christians and bias against Muslims.
One case of a civil nature was recorded in this category but not included here.
This category includes hate crimes based on political orientation.
ODIHR recognizes Malta's efforts to report hate crime data to ODIHR, amend its legislation to increase the punishment for bias-motivated crimes, and provide adequate specialist support to hate crime victims. However, based on available information, ODIHR observes that Malta does not collect data and statistics on hate crimes at the stage of prosecution and sentencing. In addition, ODIHR observes that Malta would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of prosecutors and judges to record and address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. Participating States also committed to introducing or further developing professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes.
ODIHR stands ready to support Malta in meeting the relevant commitments through its comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as through its comprehensive resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for the prosecution and judiciary.