OSCE/ODIHR signs agreement with Bulgaria to implement training programme for prosecutors to counter hate crime

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Bulgaria’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) signed an agreement on 13 July 2015 in Warsaw to train prosecutors in recognizing, understanding and investigating hate crimes.

The agreement to implement ODIHR’s Prosecutors and Hate Crime Training (PAHCT) programme was signed by Dragomir Yordanov, Director of the NIJ, and ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link. Bulgaria is the first country to implement PAHCT since the programme was unveiled in September 2014.

PAHCT is designed to improve prosecutors’ responses to hate crime. The curriculum will be tailored to fit Bulgaria's legal framework, needs and experience in countering hate crime. This work will be done in close co-operation with NIJ, to ensure that local prosecutors can apply what they learn in their daily work.

"PAHCT complements the training that Bulgaria and ODIHR have already undertaken with local police forces in addressing hate crime," said ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link. "This is exactly the kind of comprehensive approach that ODIHR promotes and assists participating States in creating. Bulgaria’s commitment to implementing PAHCT will ensure that there is a cohesive approach to addressing hate crime across the criminal justice system."

PAHCT is the latest ODIHR programme to be implemented in Bulgaria. Local police forces are being trained as part the Training Against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme and the Bulgarian authorities have recently begun working with ODIHR to improve their hate crime data recording.