Serbia

Serbia regularly reports data on hate crimes to ODIHR. Serbia's Criminal Code contains a general penalty enhancement provision and a substantive offence provision. The data reported to ODIHR also include cases of incitement to hatred, individual defamation, other hate speech offences, discrimination and the violation of equality. Serbia's Prosecutor's Office collects data on hate crime.

How hate crime data is collected

There is no specific system in place for the police recording of hate crimes.

The recording of hate crimes is conducted in all 83 public prosecutor offices in accordance with official guidelines. There is an instruction that defines record keeping on hate crimes within the meaning of the aggravating circumstance under Article 54a of the Criminal Code, including on providing a specific indication of the motive of the criminal offence. Under General Compulsory Instruction O.br. 4/2018 of 28 September 2018, each Prosecutor's Office includes a prosecutor appointed as a contact point, who is tasked with collecting information and issuing quarterly reports on activities regarding hate crimes to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

In addition to hate crimes, the Prosecutor's Office records the criminal offences of incitement to ethnic, racial and religious hatred and intolerance (Article 317 of the Criminal Code), racial and other discrimination (Article 387 of the Criminal Code), as well as other criminal offences covered in the Criminal Code.

The Public Prosecutor's Office and competent public prosecutor's offices co-operate with relevant civil society organizations on the basis of signed protocols. Regular co-ordination meetings are held, involving representatives of the Public Prosecutor's Office, representatives of other competent state bodies and civil society organisations to prevent hate crimes in the Republic of Serbia. These meetings are held twice a year and are organized by the Office for Human Rights and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. Opinions are exchanged at the co-ordination meetings with the representatives of the civil sector, who point out cases that, in their opinion, represent hate crimes. In addition to the aforementioned normative regulations, the Guidelines for the Prosecution of Hate Crimes in the Republic of Serbia are also important for the actions of public prosecutors.

Legislationline | TANDIS

SELECT YEAR

Official Data

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2019	86	14	10
2018	61	12	7
2017	5	0	0
2016	9	1	2
2015	79	7	19

National developments

In 2019, the National Strategy for Exercising the Rights of Victims and Witnesses of Crimes, for the period 2019-2025, as well as the Action Plan for the first three years of the Strategy's implementation were drafted.

The Public Prosecutor's Office, the Judicial Academy and the OSCE Mission to Serbia continued organizing training events for public prosecutors in 2019, with the aim of improving the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes. These events included the presentation of the Guidelines for the prosecution of hate crimes in the Republic of Serbia, developed jointly by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the OSCE Mission to Serbia and civil society representatives, as well as examples of practical actions of the competent bodies concerning hate crimes, and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.