Rasistiska brott mot utsatta grupper : särskilt om samer och romers möjlighet till individuell upprättelse

• Published in: Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
• Main Authors: Enarsson, Therese, Åström, Karin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Umeå universitet, Juridiska institutionen 2022
• Subjects: Racism; Sami; Roma; victims of crime; hate crimes; Rasism; samer; romer; brottsoffer; hatbrott; Law and Society; Juridik och samhälle; sami
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-194164; https://doi.org/10.7146/ntfk.v109i2.132397

This article takes its starting point in Sami and Roma exposure to racism by studying preconditions within the criminal law for dealing with racism against individual victims of crime. The purpose is to identify whether and how individual victims can obtain remedy and reparation when exposed to racism. In this article, that means that the racist act must be criminalized, that the criminal interest of crim- inalization is the individual victim, and that the racist nature of the crime has legal implications for classification, sentencing and pun- ishment. Methodologically, the study focuses on identifying possible challenges in the application of so-called hate crimes legislation. Two challenges to the application of individual remedies and reparations were identified. First is the difficulty in identifying and establishing (racist) motive. Second is the lack of clear statements from the courts about how assessments have been made in the use of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in sentencing, and if or how they have affected sentencing and punishment. The results of this study show that the legal conditions for individual victims to obtain criminal justice when they have been subjected to racism are insufficient. Problems are primarily due to deficiencies in the formulation of the legislation, but are also seen in its application. Despite a strong contemporary political focus on work to combat racism, no legal changes have been proposed. Based on the results of this study, we suggest the appli- cation of a holistic approach to the legislation on hate crimes. This would enable individual redress for the racism to which Sami and Roma, among others, are exposed.