PROŠIRIVANjE LISTE EU ZLOČINA NA GOVOR MRŽNjE I ZLOČIN MRŽNjE

Abstract

EU criminal law criminalizes hate crime only if it is linked to a limited set of protected characteristics such as race and ethnicity. The EU currently has no competence to criminalize hate speech and hate crime on grounds not covered by the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia. Hate crimes with respect to other protected groups (sexual orientation, gender, sex, disability, age, etc.) differ significantly at the level of national legislation of the member states, which puts victims of hate crimes in an unequal position in relation to the support and rights guaranteed by EU law and makes police and judicial cooperation difficult. In the context of non-harmonized national systems and social dynamics through which the normalization of hatred develops, the need for a higher level of harmonization of criminal offenses and criminal sanctions related to hate crime and hate speech is evident. The paper points out the delicacy of the regulation of hate crimes in modern EU criminal law and analyzes the procedural and content characteristics of the initiative to expand the list of "EU crimes" to include hate speech and hate crime.