Hate crimes and their handling in the criminal process
Juutinen, Marko (2021-08-31)
Juutinen, Marko
Ministry of Justice, Finland
31.08.2021
Julkaisusarja:
Publications of the Ministry of Justice, Reports and guidelines 2021:20Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-259-934-6Tiivistelmä
This study investigates how hate crimes are identified at the different stages of the criminal procedure; how the suspicion of a possible hate motive is relayed from the police to the prosecutor; and how it affects the severity of the sentence. Hate crimes reported to the police in 2017 were followed up as cases progressed from pre-trial investigation to the prosecutor, ending up in district courts.
The corpus consisted of two main categories of hate crime: cases in which an increase of the severity of the punishment was requested by the prosecutor on grounds of a hate motive, and cases in which a hate motive fulfils the essential elements of the crime. Among the cases studied, final judgements had been issued for 92 hate crimes by district courts by March 2021. In 12 cases, the severity of the punishment was increased because of a hate motive. A hate motive was part of the elements of the punishment in 80 hate crimes with a final ruling.
The study found shortcomings in the identification and processing of hate motives in the criminal procedure. It is proposed, among other things, that it should be compulsory to code certain reports of offences as hate crimes and that collaboration in criminal investigation should be intensified and the instructions on police interrogation updated.
The author assumes full responsibility for the content of this publication. The views presented are not necessarily representative of those of the European Commission, the funder of the Facts against Hate project, or the positions of Finland’s Ministry of Justice.
The corpus consisted of two main categories of hate crime: cases in which an increase of the severity of the punishment was requested by the prosecutor on grounds of a hate motive, and cases in which a hate motive fulfils the essential elements of the crime. Among the cases studied, final judgements had been issued for 92 hate crimes by district courts by March 2021. In 12 cases, the severity of the punishment was increased because of a hate motive. A hate motive was part of the elements of the punishment in 80 hate crimes with a final ruling.
The study found shortcomings in the identification and processing of hate motives in the criminal procedure. It is proposed, among other things, that it should be compulsory to code certain reports of offences as hate crimes and that collaboration in criminal investigation should be intensified and the instructions on police interrogation updated.
The author assumes full responsibility for the content of this publication. The views presented are not necessarily representative of those of the European Commission, the funder of the Facts against Hate project, or the positions of Finland’s Ministry of Justice.