Comprehensive regional approach to countering hate crime focus of OSCE/ODIHR event in Milan

Identifying and building a regional approach to countering hate crime was the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Milan Bar Association and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Milan on 15 January 2019.

The discussion was based on the review of activities and lessons learned during ODIHR's two-year project Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crime, which aimed to improve the collaboration among criminal justice professionals and civil society within four OSCE countries – Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Poland. In Italy, the project was implemented in the administrative region of Lombardy.

Participants explored the impact of project activities, including thorough and customized training on hate crime provided to all criminal justice stakeholders. They also examined the results of a detailed review of 13,000 judgements by the Court of Milan that was conducted during the project and highlighted the importance of improving support for hate crime victims.

“Hate crimes have a direct impact on local communities. This project gave us the opportunity to assess the situation in Lombardy in detail,” said Christie Edwards, Deputy Head of the ODIHR Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department. “For example, our review of rulings shows that courts rarely take into account the bias motivation of perpetrators. Based on this clear conclusion, we can help local authorities adjust their policies accordingly. This may include establishing hate crime data recording systems, directing training programmes for law enforcement, upgrading inter-agency co-operation and improving outreach to communities at risk.”

Silvia Belloni, Councilperson with the Milan Bar Association, said: “As a direct result of the training provided to local lawyers, the Milan Bar Association will start including free legal aid to victims of hate crimes as part of our current assistance efforts. I am happy to present this initiative in the hope that it will inspire our colleagues in other regions to copy our model.”

ODIHR recently published a comprehensive toolkit based on the project's activities in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Poland. This includes training packages, methodologies and guidelines on how criminal justice actors, public institutions and civil society can effectively address hate crime.