Amendment to the Criminal Code on Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Is About Ensuring Everyone’s Safety – NGOs Claim

Polish law still does not provide effective protection against hate crimes and hate speech — anyone can become a victim, and the lack of appropriate regulations amounts to tacit approval of violence and discrimination. After years of tolerating homophobia and transphobia, supported by the previous government and public media, amending the Criminal Code is necessary to ensure the safety of LGBT+ individuals and restore basic legal standards in Poland. On December 19, during a press conference in the Sejm, a joint statement on this matter was presented by 37 civil society organizations — acting as the Coalition for Equal Opportunities and supporting organizations.

Where Are We in the Legislative Process?

Work on amending the Criminal Code regarding hate crimes and hate speech began in March of this year, with the publication of the first government draft. This proposal aimed to extend provisions to include five additional grounds: gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH), along with many other civil society organizations, submitted comments that were not incorporated (read – in Polish: KPH składa uwagi do projektu nowelizacji Kodeksu karnego w zakresie ochrony przed przestępstwami z nienawiści i mową nienawiści – Kampania Przeciw Homofobii | Kampania Przeciw Homofobii. However, the project did not make it to the Sejm and was sent back to the government stage.

In October, a new version of the draft was published, but it omitted gender identity, despite its critical importance. Civil society organizations once again submitted their feedback, but these were also ignored (read in Polish: Brak tożsamości płciowej w październikowym projekcie nowelizacji Kodeksu karnego – KPH składa uwagi – Kampania Przeciw Homofobii | Kampania Przeciw Homofobii and Nowelizacja Kodeksu Karnego: uwagi KPH znowu nie zostały uwzględnione w projekcie – Kampania Przeciw Homofobii | Kampania Przeciw Homofobii). At the end of November, the draft was approved by the Council of Ministers and submitted to the Sejm.
The first reading of the bill took place on December 19, the same day as a press conference during which 37 civil society organizations presented a joint statement on the necessity of amending the Criminal Code. The conference was attended by representatives of the Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law, Amnesty International, and KPH.

NGOs Call for a Full Definition of Hate Crime and the Inclusion of Gender Identity

The Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) initiated the joint statement of the Coalition for Equal Opportunities on the amendment to the Criminal Code. The main issues highlighted include the lack of a definition of hate crimes and the omission of gender identity as a protected ground in the Criminal Code. Adding gender identity as a protected category is essential to provide comprehensive protection for individuals experiencing violence motivated by transphobia. Currently, there are doubts whether the proposed phrase “in connection with gender” covers such offenses. Explicitly specifying this ground is recommended by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights.

For over 20 years, Polish law has protected minorities from hate-based attacks. However, this protection is selective. This amendment aims to equalize this protection and include all groups vulnerable to hate-based violence. Excluding transgender people from this list is simply cruel, as this group, among LGBT+ individuals, is the most frequently attacked (nearly one in five trans people has experienced physical violence) — just for being themselves, said Mirosława Makuchowska, Director of KPH.

The absence of a definition of hate crime is another significant flaw in the draft. Organizations propose that the definition in Polish law should be based on ECRI recommendations. This would allow for more effective protection of victims and recognition of a broader range of actions as hate-motivated crimes, while maintaining precision in defining such acts.

During public consultations, civil society organizations emphasized the need for including a legal definition of hate crime in the Criminal Code. These voices should not be ignored. Experiences of marginalized groups show that bias-motivated crimes are not limited to the specific acts listed in the substantive part of the code. Introducing a legal definition would expand criminal law protection for other acts motivated by hatred and address challenges in determining the actual scale of such crimes, commented Anna Matras, Legal Analyst at Amnesty International.

Systemic problem requires systemic solutions. Recent years have shown that hate crimes are a systemic issue. Experiences from other marginalized groups confirm the need for a comprehensive solution that examines the discriminatory nature of crimes. Additionally, the government must implement extensive training for law enforcement, courts, and prosecutors, and issue appropriate recommendations in this area, as we often hear reports of victims of hate-motivated attacks being ignored by institutions, said Miko Czerwiński of the Równość.org Foundation, one of the organizations endorsing the statement.

The authors of the statement emphasize that amending the Criminal Code is not merely a demand of organizations advocating for LGBT+ rights but a broader initiative also supported by human rights organizations with expert knowledge and experience in combating discrimination (including those within the Coalition for Equal Opportunities). The proposed changes result from consultations with lawyers and legal experts who deal with such cases daily.

Read the full text of the statement (in Polish)