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Hate crimes

Hate crime is an umbrella term. It is used when a criminal offense is committed because of prejudice or hatred the perpetrator has towards the group that the victim is a part of.

Table of contents

Victims and perpetrators

The group can be defined based on:

  • Country of origin
  • Colour of skin
  • Race
  • Religion
  • Disability
  • Sexual characteristics
  • Sexuality
  • Gender identity
  • Other similar factors

Perpetrators of a hate crime:

  • Personal contact with the victim is often nonexistent.
  • Has prejudice or hatred toward a group.
  • Commits the act because the victim is in that group.
  • The act is toward the entire group.
  • This also applies if the perpetrator believes that the victim is part of the group even though they are not.

What makes something a hate crime?

The term hate crime does not appear in Icelandic law, but it states that when deciding a punishment, it must be considered if the act was done because of the victim's status.

It is necessary to be able to demonstrate that the offence was committed out of prejudice or hatred towards a group in order for the offence to be defined as a hate crime.

Violence and other crimes

When it comes to offences that are already defined as punishable by law (such as assault, rape, murder and damage to property), it can increase the punishment if the crime was committed because of the victim's status (General Penal Code, Article 70).

Hate speech

Hate speech is when hatred and prejudice against a group is spread through expression, either to individual members of the group or to the group in general.

In Iceland there is freedom of expression, but there are still laws and regulations that apply to expression. One of them is the law on hate speech. It prohibits ridiculing, slandering, insulting or threatening an individual or group because of their origin, colour, race, religion, disability, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation and gender identity (General Penal Code, Article 233 a).

Hate speech can include:

  • comments with words (both spoken and written)
  • images (like memes)
  • symbols (such as a swastika)
  • sound (such as barking)

Although there is a law on hate speech, the issue is complex, and it is not a given that all prejudiced expressions fall under hate speech.

Read more about hate speech

Discrimination

There are laws in Iceland that protect people from discrimination when it comes to services and accessibility. The law protects people from discrimination based on their origin, skin colour, race, religion, disability, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Some examples of what is illegal:

  • A person must not be denied the right to buy a product if others are allowed to buy it
  • A person must not be denied services that are available to others
  • An individual must not be denied access to a place that is open to the public

General Penal Code, Article 180.