Unia for Police & Justice
The police force and the justice system play a fundamental role in the fight against discrimination and for a more equitable society.
Unia supports these two sectors through various tools and partnerships.
Unia, police, and public prosecutor: each with their own expertise and role
Hate crimes and hate speech are punishable offences. Victims can file a complaint with the police. That complaint is then sent to the public prosecutor at the prosecutor’s office, who investigates the case and decides on possible prosecution.
- Unia provides free support to victims after they file a complaint: we inform and guide them throughout the entire procedure. Unia can also intervene by joining the legal proceedings as a civil party.
- Unia actively supports the police and justice system with tools and close collaboration, in line with circular COL13/2013 (FR or NL) regarding investigation and prosecution policies on discrimination and hate crimes.
How does Unia collaborate with the police?
1. Providing training to improve case handling
- Unia trains reference police officers within the framework of COL13, together with police instructors: recognising hate crimes and hate speech, recording them correctly, sharing information with colleagues, and raising awareness of the impact on victims to improve victim support.
- Unia also raises awareness among officers in the field when their directional departments request this.
2. Collaborating to better support victims
- Taking care of the contact between victims and police services to guarantee proper victim support.
- Maintaining ongoing contact with reference police officers for optimal case follow-up.
- Training services that support victims at the police, prosecutor’s office, and within non-profit organisations. These services are key partners for Unia and play a complementary role. It is therefore important that they understand the specific impact of hate crimes on individuals. Unia supports them so that they respond effectively to diverse audiences and keep vulnerable groups in their focus.
3. Supporting police services in developing diversity policies
How is Unia working with the justice system?
COL13/2013 stipulates that each judicial district must designate reference magistrates at the public prosecutors’ offices and at labour courts.
They need to understand the complexity of the legislation and inform their colleagues so that discrimination cases are handled in the best possible way. They also serve as Unia’s main contacts for following up on cases.
- Unia provides training to reference magistrates and their colleagues through the Judicial Training Institute ('Institut de Formation Judiciaire').
- Unia facilitates exchanges between the police and reference magistrates within the same district.
- Unia acts as a centre of expertise that the justice system can rely on.
On Unia’s website, you can find case law (FR or NL) from across the country. Unia also shares knowledge about the legal framework (FR or NL) and practical tools, such as the discrimination lexicon (FR or NL), to support magistrates in case analysis.
Violence or discrimination against the police
Libel
Have there been actions, words, behaviours or threats of an offensive nature directed towards a ‘public legal entity in the context of his or her duties’ – such as a police officer? Then, according to the Criminal Code (art. 276), this is punishable by imprisonment and a fine.
Example: a judge convicted a man for libel against a police officer.
Insults
Insults are understood as cases where someone is denigrated by vague or specific actions or words which, in the eyes of most people, damage his or her good name and reputation (art. 448, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code). Verbally insulting a police officer is a punishable offence. Is the case taken to court? Then the penalty can be increased if the judge considers one of the motives for the crime to involve any of the legally protected discrimination criteria.
Example: a judge handed down a more severe penalty for a woman who had insulted a policewoman because of her skin colour.
Moreover, just like all citizens, police officers are also protected by the antiracism and antidiscrimination laws. Has there been another offence in which one of the perpetrator’s motives involves hate, contempt, or hostility towards a person on the grounds of a protected criterium? Then the Criminal Code also provides for a harsher punishment.
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Every 3 months, the COL13 newsletter brings you case law, best practices, publications and other information on discrimination and hate crime.
The case law database
One of Unia's missions is to collect and make public court decisions that may be useful in assessing anti-racism and anti-discrimination legislation.
The texts are systematically anonymised and a summary is provided. Lawyers and other interested parties can work with simple parameters in this database or carry out targeted searches using keywords or extracts.
Promoting diversity and inclusion
Unia supports professionals who work to promote greater diversity and inclusion.
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