Norway
Norway regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Norway's criminal law contains specific penalty enhancements for certain criminal offences. The reported official data include cases of incitement to hatred. Hate crime data are collected by the National Police Directorate, Ministry of Justice and Statistics Norway. Hate crime statistics are regularly published. The National Police Directorate conducts annual victimization surveys, which include questions about hate crime.
How hate crime data is collected
Hate crimes are defined as offences motivated by a person's religion or belief, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, homosexual orientation, disability or other circumstances relating to groups with a particular need for protection.
Hate crimes are recorded separately in the databases of the police and prosecutor's office. They are registered by police as hate crimes when (i) the victim perceives it as such, or (ii) police otherwise identify the bias motive as an aggravating circumstance. In 2018, the Police Directorate issued guidelines on registering hate crimes for use by all police officers when receiving reports of hate crimes.
The Police Directorate conducts annual public surveys with questions about hate crime. It also publishes statistics on hate crimes annually.
Official Data
Hate crimes recorded by police
In the breakdown below, the numbers do not correspond with the total number of police-recorded hate crimes above because: (i) there may be several motives registered in one criminal case; and (ii) the police records below include incidents of hate speech and discrimination, which are not taken into account.
National developments
A training module on hate crime was delivered to prosecutors and investigators.
The authorities have continued implementing two action plans: the Action Plan against Anti-Semitism 2016-2020; and the LGBTI Action Plan: Safety, Diversity, Openness 2017-2020, on countering discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
International reports
No information is available.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Norway has not reported on hate crimes separately from cases of hate speech.
