All victims of hate crimes are entitled to receive protection and support provided by the State.
Croatian law presribes that victims of hate crimes should be protected and that perpetrators should be held accountable for their actions. Immediate help should be available to someone in danger, and structural assistance and legal help should be provided for victims.
Immediate response
The police force is a law enforcement institution which has a legal obligation to act if a person’s safety, health or life is in immediate danger. This also applies to the protection of a person’s property. Therefore, if your safety, health or life is endangered by a person who expresses bias towards you, you have the right to call the police (112) for your protection. It does not matter whether you are a victim, due to a hate crime already having been committed against you, or whether you feel threatened and endangered that a crime may be committed against you in future. In fact, police officers are the first to respond in most hate crimes.
Hate crimes are usually underreported, because people are too intimidated by the perpetrator to seek help or because they do not trust the responsible authorities. However, it is important that the authorities identify a potential case of hate crime, stop the perpetrator who has already committed the hate crime, and provide the required help to the victim or the person who feels in danger. Thus, any witness to a hate crime should report it by calling the Emergency Line on 112.
You can report criminal behavior to the police by calling 112, in person at the nearest police station or in writing. After reporting the incident to the police, you can request confirmation that the report has been submitted. After you report the incident to the police, the police will conduct a criminal investigation. If the police found grounds for criminal behavior, the file a criminal complaint to the state attorney or to the Misdemeanor Court for further proceedings.
Legal aid
The state does not have an automatic duty to provide you with free legal aid. In criminal proceedings and administrative offenses proceedings the state will bring action against the perpetrator. As a victim of hate crime, you can also participate in the proceedings as an injured party if you state before the police, the State Attorney's Office or the court that you want to participate in the proceedings as an injured party.
You may hire a lawyer at any stage of the proceedings. Your lawyer may be present every time you are required, or you choose, to participate in the proceedings.
In some circumstances, if you cannot afford a lawyer and you need legal aid to be able to exercise your rights and defend your interests effectively, can apply for free legai aid.
You initiate the procedure for obtaining primary legal aid by directly contacting the provider of primary legal aid—an authorized association, legal clinic, county administrative authority or the City Office for General Administration of the City of Zagreb.
Aid after a hate crime
Victims may experience emotional or psychological trauma after a hate crime or they may want to seek more specialized help than the state can usually provide. Victims facing these needs can use the help of various non-governmental organizations working with specific social groups or providing specialized help.
What human rights violation may there be?
The risk that a violation of human rights may occur due to the failure of the police or other State authorities to ensure a victim’s safety, or their failure to prevent discrimination is possible as not every public official is trained in the procedures for performing in hate crime cases.
The State authorities must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and punish hate crimes in accordance with national legislation, whether those acts are perpetrated by state officials or by private individuals. Police failure to provide an adequate response to hate crimes may be considered to be a failure by the State to ensure safety for victims.
Operational measures, such as detention on remand which police must apply to protect a victim, are remedies which the State must use to enforce a victim’s human rights. If the police fail to adequately respond to a hate crime, it may result in a violation of the right to life or the prohibition of inhumane or degrading treatment.
The right to a fair trial could be violated if the state institutions or the courts investigating the hate crime do not follow the procedures prescribed by law, or the court proceedings take too long.
If the State (the relevant state authorities) fails to effectively respond, investigate or provide protection to the victims of hate crimes where there are immediate threats to victims’ lives, freedom or health, it may result in a violation of the prohibition of discrimination, in conjunction with a violation of the right to life and/or the prohibition of inhumane or degrading treatment.
The prohibition of discrimination may also be violated in instances where the responsible state institutions discriminate against the victim due to their own bias.
You have the right to be informed of all your rights and how to exercise them, as well as receive emotional support throughout the proceedings. If criminal charges have been filed and you need to be questioned at an evidentiary hearing, you will, as a rule, be contacted the court’s Victim and Witness Support Department. However, you can also always turn to the Department for help, support, and counsel yourself.
You can contact other bodies for psychological and other professional assistances, including general practitioners, centres for social welfare, hospitals, other healthcare institutions and civil society organizations involved in the protection and promotion of the rights of vulnerable social groups. Keep in mind that that there is no support system intended exclusively for victims of hate crime in the Republic of Croatia, but the existing forms of support available to all victims of criminal offences are at your disposal too.
You have the rights to protect your own safety and the safety of your family members from the perpetrator. The competent bodies must ensure that you have minimal contact with the perpetrator, especially when testifying in court. Moreover, you can always ask the state attorney or the court tob e questioned via an audio-video link. Depending on the circumstances of the case, you also have the rights to be placed in a safe house if necessary.
The police, the state attorney, the judge, and other persons you come into contact with are obliged to treat you with respect and in a non-discriminatory manner.
You have the right to have a person that is close to you or a person of trust with you during all stages of the proceedings (from reporting the crime to the police to testifying in court).