Sweden, Swedish Prosecution Authority, (Åklagarmyndigheten), Supervision report 2016:1 Hate crime - a review of the prosecutors' processing, (Tillsynsrapport 2016:1 Hatbrott – en granskning av åklagarnas handläggning, ÄM-A 2014/1799) Malmö Development Ce
Country
Sweden
Title
Year
Type of publication
Geographical coverage
National
Area/location of interest
Type of Institution
Public authority
Institution
Main Thematic Focus
Hate crime
Target Population
General population
Key findings
The report analyses the prosecutors' processing of hate crimes to find what kind of crimes are reported as hate crimes, and whether the hate crime motives are noted and investigated to the extent possible. Only 15 – 20 percent of the cases in the material are followed up with a legal action. The study shows that defamation crimes, i.e. slander and insults were the most common hate crimes. In cases where charges have been made and the hate crime motive has been established by a court, this aggravating circumstance has influenced the meeting out of the punishment – with only a few exceptions. The report underlines the accuracy and quality of the preliminary hearings must improve.
Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)
A qualitative-based examination (granskning) of 300 hate crimes reported during 2013 collected from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brottsförebyggande rådet, BRÅ) database, which have been processed by a prosecutor.
Sample details and representativeness
The total number of cases with a hate crime motive that had been processed by a prosecutor during 2013 was 892. 300 of these cases were selected as a representative sample of the larger group. The sample included cases geographically spread across the country and cases that have been handled by both larger and smaller local public prosecution offices (åklagarkammare). These 300 cases were examined in more detail.