A brief reflection on the impact of the Universal Periodic Review on the efficient investigation of hate crimes in Hungary

Abstract

Hate crimes, sadly present all over the world, are criminal acts motivated by bias towards a particular group of people. The act itself constitutes an offence under criminal law (e.g. physical assault or disorderly behaviour) and the motive of the mentioned bias is present. Bias motivation is understood as intolerance or hatred directed toward a particular group that shares a common protected characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, disability or any other fundamental characteristic. The article sheds light on certain specific aspects of the fight against hate crimes in order to demonstrate through this specific example the nature and the practical impact of UPR recommendations on the protection of human rights. The legalistic (but hopefully accessible) language at certain points of the article is needed for the understanding of the reality of practical details of the criminal legal response on hate crimes. The UPR recommendations fall into this reality: without understanding them, the nature of the recommendations could hardly be assessed.