OSCE/ODIHR and National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution sign agreement to strengthen hate crime prosecution

WARSAW, 16 September 2015 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Poland's National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution signed an agreement on 16 September 2015 in Warsaw to help strengthen prosecutors' skills to understand, recognize and successfully prosecute hate crimes.

"Hate crimes do not only affect individual victims. They send a message of inequality and rejection throughout whole communities. Only a powerful response by the authorities can break the cycle of violence, which hate crimes can trigger," said ODIHR First Deputy Director Beatriz Balbin.

"Prosecutors have an essential role in formulating this response. It is through proper investigation, and prosecution, that they can help victims and victim communities find justice." 

Trainers from ODIHR and the National School of Judiciary will work together to implement ODIHR’s Prosecutors and Hate Crime Training (PAHCT) programme in Poland, using a curriculum customized to fit the Polish context. PAHCT is the latest ODIHR programme to be implemented in Poland, as law enforcement officials are also being trained as part of the Training Against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme.

"Historical experience teaches us that ignoring such phenomena brings extremely dangerous consequences. Prosecutors are determined to fight crimes motivated by hatred, and only last year charged more than 200 suspected perpetrators with such crimes," said Marzena Kowalska, Deputy Prosecutor General of Poland. "I see the signing of today's agreement as a great sign of support from such respectable and reputable institutions as ODIHR and the National School of the Judiciary and Public Prosecution."

"Only joint action by those for whom the elimination of racial hatred or ethnically motivated crimes is important can bring a significant improvement," she added.

"The National School of the Judiciary and Public Prosecution, aware of the great social harm posed by hate crimes, engages in training projects to provide judges and prosecutors with the expertise necessary to combat this type of crime,” said Leszek Pietraszko, Director of the National School of the Judiciary and Public Prosecution. “This is particularly important in the current situation, when we see the greatest influx of refugees and immigrants into Europe for many years. This raises real concern that there could be a rise in hate crime."

Poland is the second country to implement PAHCT. The programme is designed to be integrated into existing training efforts and to draw on local resources, with the standard PAHCT curriculum being customized to the hate crime context of the implementing state and to its laws and criminal justice procedures.