Proving of hate crimes

Abstract

At the beginning, the authors have pointed out that the legislator in the Republic of Serbia Revision of the Criminal Code in 2012 introduced article 54a, in which is the motive of hatred prescribed as a mandatory aggravating circumstance. Although from the adoption of this article past few years ago it has not been applicable in any case until now. Therefore, the authors have paid special attention to reviewing all the problems in proving a hate crime. First, they have stated, according to the typology developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the circumstances which need to point to the existence of hate crimes. The next part is dedicated to the difficulties in proving hatred as the motive of the crime. As proof of hate crime requires harmonized work of internal affairs bodies, the public prosecutor and the court, the authors of the forthcoming have elaborated the role of each of these organs in proving a hate crime.

Keywords

• hate crime
• proving
• difficulties
• the role of the competent authorities