Португалия

In January 2021, the Office of the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality set up a multidisciplinary Working Group to prevent and combat of racism and discrimination. The Working Group consists of state authorities, including the High Commissioner for Migration, the Office of the Secretary of State for Integration and Migration, and the Office of the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, as well as representatives of civil society and academia. The Working Group aims to contribute to the systematization of information on discrimination and racism in Portugal; reflect on the European and national anti-discrimination mechanisms and the future Independent Observatory on Hate Discourse, Racism and Xenophobia; and identify priority areas and intervention needs, including by presenting proposals for measures to be included in the National Plan to Combat Racism and Discrimination.  

Portugal's Resolution No. 265/2021, approved by the Parliament in October 2021, recommended that the Government implement public policies to effectively combat hate crime in Portugal. Such policy recommendations include restructuring the operational procedures of criminal police bodies, the appropriate use of mechanisms to record incidents, promoting the collection and public dissemination of statistical data on hate crimes, the close and active co-operation between police and judicial authorities and civil society organizations, and ongoing hate crime training for professionals in the justice system and criminal law enforcement agencies 

The new National Plan to Combat Racism and Discrimination, 2021-2025, announced the revision of Article 240 of the Portuguese Criminal Code in line with the international binding instruments to which Portugal is a party. The revision is aimed at extending the list of protected grounds under the provision. The Ministry of Justice has continued preparing the draft amendment. 

In 2021, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), along with the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, and with the support of the High Commission for Migrations and the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), granted special support to projects and initiatives that facilitate and disseminate information about actions to tackle hate crime.   

Notable case: 

In March 2020, a Ukrainian citizen died in the facilities of the Portuguese Border and Immigration Services at Lisbon airport. The case caused great social unrest due to its atypical nature and contours. In July 2022, the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the nine-year prison sentences handed down by the Lisbon Court of Appeal to the three perpetrators convicted for the crime of aggravated assault.