The records on prosecuted hate crimes includes cases that culminated in a bill of indictment, submissions to courts based on a guilty plea, submissions to courts for the conditional discharge of a penalty, and submissions to courts to discontinue proceedings owing to the perpetrator's reduced culpability on mental health grounds.
The records on sentenced hate crimes represent the number of persons convicted in the first instance before district and regional courts.
All records may include cases of discrimination or hate speech, which fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The numbers presented here refer to police investigations that were initiated as hate crimes. Incidents of hate speech, which fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime, were not included.
On 7 July 7 2022, the Criminal Code and other laws were amended. The sentencing directives (Article 53 of the Criminal Code) now require the courts to take into account "the commission of the offence as a result of a motivation deserving particular condemnation". Provisions related to incitement to hatred and to violence (Article 256 of the Criminal Code) were also amended.
In line with the Decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Police, a team tasked with developing a draft curriculum for a specialized course on hate crimes was established in June 2022.
In addition, representatives of the police took part in 2022 in anti-discrimination workshops organized by the "Polin" Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
The National School of the Judiciary and Public Prosecution covers material related to hate crimes during its apprenticeship and supplementary apprenticeship courses for judges and prosecutors.
The number under "Unspecified" includes 56 offences of racist or xenophobic violence or threats (Section 119 of the Criminal Code), 198 offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code), and seven offences of public incitement to a crime (Sections 255 and 126a of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes 13 offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes three offences of racist or xenophobic violence or threats (Section 119 of the Criminal Code), 78 offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code), and six offences of incitement to a crime (Sections 126a and 255 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes one offence of racist or xenophobic violence or threats (Section 119 of the Criminal Code), 22 offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code), and two offences of incitement to a crime (Sections 126a and 255 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes two offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes 15 offences of racist or xenophobic violence or threats (Section 119 of the Criminal Code), 17 offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code), and two offences of incitement to a crime (Section 255 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The number under "Unspecified" includes four offences of racist or xenophobic insult of a group or breach of personal inviolability (Section 257 of the Criminal Code), and seven offences of incitement to a crime (Sections 126a and 255 of the Criminal Code). These offences may include hate speech cases that fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "Final report on Poland adopted on 27 June 2023 by ECRI at its 92nd plenary meeting (27-30 June 2023)".
ODIHR recognizes Poland's efforts to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement to address hate crimes. However, based on the available information, it observes that Poland's hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Poland would benefit from further raising awareness among and building the capacity of prosecutors on hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States have agreed to a common definition of hate crime and committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. To that end, hate crimes need to be distinguished throughout the recording and data collection process from discrimination and other crimes. Participating States have also committed to introduce or further develop professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes.
ODIHR stands ready to support Poland in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as through its resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for police, prosecution, and judiciary.
🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.
🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.