4.3 Mission in Kosovo co-ordination, develop effective methods to encourage reporting to the police, collecting and recording data on hate crime, develop co-operation with civil society organizations, and improve investigation and adjudication practices. On 26 May, a similar capacity-building workshop was organized in Gjilan/Gnjilane and Ferizaj/Uroševac regions. On 10 July, the Mission facilitated the first working group meeting on hate crimes between the KP, the Prosecutor’s Office and Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC). During the meeting, the Mission presented the findings related to gaps in recording of hate crimes by the KP and Kosovo Prosecutorial Council, which referred to the lack of inclusion options to disaggregate data by all protected characteristics as stipulated in the Criminal Code.11 This prevents both the police and prosecutors from effectively responding to these offences and establishing appropriate measures to prevent hate crimes. Furthermore, participants were introduced to the ten practical steps of ODIHR to establish a data collection and monitoring system on hate crimes, which includes the creation of a co-ordination mechanism comprising of focal points from each relevant institution. During the workshop, the Mission also advocated and highlighted the need to develop an inter-institutional agreement12, which would address gaps and improve recording of hate crimes. As a follow-up, on 25 September, the Mission facilitated the second working group meeting with the same institutions to address issues related to hate crime. During this meeting, the working group further studied the steps required to prepare the first draft of the hate crime inter-institutional agreement. The Mission pledged to support the development of this agreement by the end of 2017. Participants also agreed to initiate the first set of meetings in eight police regions to establish regional networks between the KP and representatives of the Basic Prosecutor’s Offices. From 2 to 30 October, following the establishment of the focus group on developing an inter-agency agreement on hate crime, the Mission co-operated with the KP in facilitating eight workshops to create regional monitoring networks on recording and investigating hate crimes. As recommended by the Mission, eight monitoring networks comprising of police investigators, community police officers and prosecutors were established in all KP regions, to facilitate the implementation of policy amendments that will 64 11 The general aggravating circumstance for criminal acts committed with a bias motive is foreseen in Article 74, paragraph 2.12 of the Criminal Code, which provides “if the criminal offence is committed against a person, group of persons or property because of ethnicity or national origin, nationality, language, religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs, colour, gender, sexual orientation, or because of their affinity with persons who have the aforementioned characteristics.” 12 In 2017, the Mission committed to facilitate the development of a hate crime protocol and co-ordinate changes in the policies of the KP on improving the recording of hate crimes. be presented in the new hate crime inter-agency agreement. During these workshops, participants were introduced to the concept of hate crime and importance of recording these bias-motivated cases. The Mission presented the findings related to gaps in recording hate crimes by the KP and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council. Finally, all members of these networks were familiarized with future concrete steps to be undertaken, and their role in the process of amending the police incident report, electronic database and registration of hate crimes in the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council database. On 10 and 11 October, the Mission representatives attended the sixth annual regional conference on hate crimes in SEE organized by the OSCE Mission to Skopje. The event focused on impact of hate violence on victims, required actions of criminal justice agencies to support victims of hate crimes, findings and impact of hate crime surveys’ evidence, both from policy and practical levels, as well as practices on institutional and non-institutional victim support. Representatives of the Mission presented initiatives and developments in response to hate crimes by the local authorities, with a specific emphasis on the ongoing work to address shortcomings in recording hate crimes through development of a policy protocol for law enforcement and justice authorities. Following the conference, the OSCE SEE focal points held a separate meeting and agreed on future regional initiatives, focusing on under-reporting and additional programmes supporting hate crime victims. All participants agreed that more effort should be placed on increasing the capacities of civil society to raise awareness on hate crime consequences. On 1 and 2 November, the Mission, in co-operation with ODIHR, facilitated an additional workshop to enhance co-operation in addressing hate crimes, which involved representatives of the MoIA, KP, KJC and civil society. During the workshop, the Mission’s recommendations in recording hate crimes were reviewed, and the draft agreement on interagency co-operation in addressing hate crimes was prepared and approved. The agreement also included the composition of parties involved and areas to be covered, including duties of each entity as a partner in this endeavour. The agreement is expected to effectively address hate crimes within the existing legal framework, through a co-ordinated approach of institutions and civil society organizations (CSO). Once approved, the four main entities, MoIA, KP, KJC and Prosecutor’s Office, will assume responsibilities for activities specified in the agreement, including policy changes, development of instructions, guidelines and standard operating procedures on registering hate crimes.