Prosecution figures represent the total number of hate crimes pending in the prosecutor's offices as of 31 December 2023. A further 82 cases registered by the prosecution authorities and reported to ODIHR fall outside the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
Figures on sentencing represent the number of cases committed with a bias motive (according to Article 77 (h) of the Criminal Code) that were settled on merits.
Offences that fall outside the OSCE's hate crime definition, such as of hate speech and discrimination, are excluded from the breakdown below.
In 2023, the Romanian Police's Criminal Investigation Directorate carried out training activities on hate crime investigation in co-operation with the Council of Europe and the Norwegian National Police.
In 2023, prosecutors participated in training activities on hate crimes, including on Holocaust denial, organized by the National Institute of Magistracy (NIM) in co-operation with the German Ministry of Justice and the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ). A new event on "Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust - history, memory and legislation" was also held online with the support of the 'Elie Wiesel' National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania. The NIM also carried out a series of training seminars on combating hate crime.
In collaboration with the ACCEPT Association, training sessions were held to address issues of gender-based discrimination against LGBTI persons.
In 2023, the Romanian Police collaborated with civil society organizations to deliver workshops and a campaign on victimization and human rights of the Roma community.
The National Strategy for Preventing and Combating Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Radicalization, and Hate Speech was updated for the period 2024-2027 to promote education for inclusion and to support the knowledge of Jewish culture nationally and internationally.
Also during 2023, the Prosecutor General approved a new guidance document on the investigation of hate crimes, including a methodology used to harmonize and standardize activities and improve interactions with hate crime victims. The document is a working tool for prosecutors but also provides methodical guidance on investigation standards in supervising criminal investigations carried out by criminal police bodies. The document also mentions indicators used by criminal investigation bodies to detect the bias motivation.
The Romanian Police has obtained funding through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism towards the establishment of a specialized unit for investigating hate crimes at the level of the Criminal Investigation Directorate.
A further eight incidents were reported under this category but not included as they fall outside the OSCE's hate crime definition.
A further two incidents were reported under this category but not included as they fall outside the OSCE's hate crime definition.
The "Unspecified" category includes one incident of disturbance of possession (Article 256 of the Criminal Code).
A further 28 incidents were reported under this category but not included as they fall outside the OSCE's hate crime definition.
The "Unspecified" category includes one incident of violating professional premises (Article 255 of the Criminal Code).
This category only includes hate incidents motivated by bias against sexual orientation.
The "Unspecified" category includes the following incidents: one offence with an ethnicity bias; 11 offences with a bias based on opinion or political affiliation; and eight offences committed in circumstances considered by the perpetrator as causing a person's perceived inferiority in relation to others.
ODIHR recognizes Romania's efforts to enhance the capacity of the police and prosecutors to address hate crime. However, based on the available information, it observes that Romania's hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Romania would benefit from ensuring that hate crimes are addressed in a comprehensive manner, including by introducing a co-ordination mechanism.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States agreed to a definition of hate crime shared by all OSCE participating States, and committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. Therefore, hate crimes need to be distinguished from hate speech and discrimination crimes throughout the recording and data collection process. Participating States have also committed to ensure a comprehensive approach to hate crimes. To that end, the relevant authorities are required to collaborate and co-ordinate with civil society.
ODIHR stands ready to support Romania 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 by providing further resources on addressing hate crimes comprehensively.
In addition to incidents submitted with detailed descriptions, this chart includes 12 anti-LGBTI incidents and 1 racist and xenophobic incident reported as statistics by the ACCEPT Association.
🛈 Please note that the data in the charts above are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not be representative of the actual number of incidents affecting individual communities.
🛈 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.