Poland

Poland regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Poland's Criminal Code contains several substantive offences. Data reported to ODIHR include cases of incitement to hatred. Hate crime data are collected by the Department of Control, Complaints and Petitions of the Ministry of the Interior, the General Police Headquarters, the Internal Security Agency, the Preparatory Proceedings Office of the General Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Institute of National Remembrance – General Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, and the Ombudsman's Office. Hate crime data are regularly published. 

How hate crime data is collected in Poland

How hate crime data is collected in Poland

Several public bodies are involved in monitoring and/or collecting data on hate crimes. The main actors in this field are the police and the Prosecutor's Office. Each has a separate recording system and methodology for this task. Since 2015, the police and the Ministry of the Interior and Administration have jointly developed and shared a hate crime data collection system.

All offences committed against people because of their racial, national, ethnic or religious background are classified as hate crimes. While there are no general guidelines on hate crime recording, police officers are required to establish whether the perpetrator was acting out of bias motivation. Bias indicators such as behaviour and statements during the act, circumstances of the crime and characteristics and circumstances connected with the victim are used to determine the motive.

Hate crimes are flagged on the incident form as well as in the police force's electronic database.

Special co-ordinators at both the central (the National Hate Crime Co-ordinator in the Criminal Bureau of the General Police Headquarters) and local levels (police headquarters in every Voivodeship and the Metropolitan Police Headquarters) are responsible for preventing and investigating hate crimes, as well as for compiling data from their district and reporting them monthly to the National Police Information System (KSIP). Monthly reports are forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior and Administration. The same structure is also used to monitor hate speech incidents, which are crimes under the Polish Penal Code. However, these can be separated in the reporting. Data from the police are available on request.

Prosecutors record hate crimes when bias motivations are identified in the proceedings or are implicit in the crime. Guidelines on conducting proceedings for hate crimes cases, issued by the prosecutor general in 2014, unify practices for the prosecution and reporting of hate crimes. Every prosecuted hate crime should be reported to a superior Prosecutor's Office. The cases are also monitored by the Department of Preparatory Proceedings of the National Public Prosecutor's Office, which issues a report on all cases to the Prosecutor General and provides recommendations to subordinate Prosecutor's Offices. The National Public Prosecutor's Office publishes data on hate crime online every six months. Published data contain excerpts from reports on investigations conducted in the organizational units of the prosecutor in a given period of time.

The Division of Statistical Management Information in the Department of Strategy and European Funds of the Ministry of Justice is responsible for organizing, co-ordinating, supervising and preparing statistical reports, including information on hate crimes. The data are obtained from two sources: statistical reports prepared by courts every six months, and the electronic database of the National Criminal Register. The data are published online.

Besides collating the reports from police and receiving information on judicial outcomes from the courts, the Ministry of the Interior and Administration also conducts its own independent monitoring activities.

Access more information at the Legislation Online website Legislationline TANDIS Access more information at the Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Information System (TANDIS) website

OFFICIAL DATA

Year Hate crimes recorded by police Prosecuted Sentenced
2019 972 432 597
2018 1117 397 315
2017 886 320 260
2016 874 281 236
2015 263 229 195
2014 778 179 127
2013 757 116 53
2012 266 76 39
2011 222 43 24
2010 251 30 28
2009 194 29 27

About 2009 Data

    Figures include crimes of incitement to hatred.

National developments

A database was developed by the Interior Ministry to identify cases and incidents of a discriminatory, xenophobic or racist character. The database aims to improve data collection and strengthen the response of law-enforcement officers and prosecutors to hate crimes.

Incidents reported by civil society, international organizations and the Holy See

Reports

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The Stephen Roth Institute reported nine violent anti-semitic incidents.

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Anti-LGBTI hate crime

ILGA-Europe reported one assault against an LGBT person.

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Developments

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

The East Europe Monitoring Centre was established with the aim of monitoring and reporting cases of racism and xenophobia across Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Poland and Ukraine.

read more ›

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

ODIHR's police training programme on hate crime was implemented in 2009 in Poland.

Anti-Semitic hate crime

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) observed manifestations of anti-Semitism in Poland.

KEY OBSERVATION

No information is available.