Avenue de l'Europe
Slovak Republic
Koky and Others v. Slovakia 
| 2012
Where an individual raises an arguable claim that he has been seriously ill-treated . . . there should be an effective official investigation capable of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, June 2012
One night in the village of Gánovce-Filice, a group of non-Roma residents forcibly entered three Roma houses. They beat the inhabitants with baseball bats and iron bars, whilst allegedly shouting racist slogans.
The victims identified several people who they said were responsible for the attack. However, the authorities refused to charge anyone with a crime.
The European court found that the authorities had failed to properly investigate the incident or punish those responsible. The court said it was particularly important for attacks with racist overtones to be properly investigated.
In 2014 the offence of extremism was created, to make it easier for the authorities to prosecute racially-motivated crimes. Specialised police units were set up to deal with such crimes, and new regulations were introduced covering the actions of the authorities.
Further legal changes in 2017 banned a wider range of extremist activities and made it easier for the authorities to prosecute violent racism. A specialised court and prosecution service took over responsibility for prosecuting such crimes.
Fourteen Roma children said their schools had racially discriminated against them. The Croatian courts disagreed, so the children brought their case to the European court, which ruled that their placement in Roma-only classes had violated their human rights. Croatia then took steps to end discrimination against Roma children in primary education, including by abolishing segregated classes.
Rafi Sakir, a victim of a racist attack, was held in a dirty, overcrowded prison cell because he did not have residence papers to legally stay in Greece. Police did not even ask him to make a statement about the attack. The European court ruled that they had failed to properly investigate his case. This judgment led Greece to treat hate crimes more seriously.
An NGO organised a series of demonstrations in Warsaw, to highlight discrimination against women and minorities. The gatherings were banned, after the city’s mayor said that he was against them because they included support for gay rights. The European court ruled that the ban violated the right to public assembly. This led to changes to Polish law to protect the right to protest.
Croatia
Greece
Poland