The Roma Justice Project

Image of three policemen standing in front of a protest

The first interaction Roma usually have with the criminal legal system is through the police.

Across Europe law enforcement profile, harass, beat, torture, and sometimes kill Roma with impunity.

Most cases involve multiple police officers.

Most of the time they do not face criminal prosecution.

Deaths resulting from police action

Police Harassment

Disproportionate use of police force

Torture in police custody

Download Map Dataset

Image of a Roma family experiencing hardship

The police are often the only contact that segregated Romani communities have with the State.

Racist policing creates long-lasting trauma for those who experience it.

Racist policing is the most widespread form of institutional antigypsyism across Europe today.

Almost 50% of all the ERRC's active legal cases concern police violence against Roma.

Legal Cases

Velikova v Bulgaria (2000)

Čonka v Belgium (2002)

Stoica v Romania (2008)

R.R. and R.D. v Slovakia (2020)

Lingurar v Romania (2019)

Tomášova v Czech Republic (2023)

Karagiannopoulos v. Greece (2007)

Marko Stalović & Sandra Stalović v Serbia

Memedov v North Macedonia (2021)

Borbála Kiss v Hungary (2012)

Police brutality is not a case of one or two bad apples in law enforcement.

It is a structural problem of racism which exists in virtually every police force and country in Europe.

Brutal and Bigoted: Policing Roma in the EU

Belgium’s Police Raids on Romani Travellers Deemed Discriminatory by European Committee

How Racist and Incompetent Policing Cost Romani Lives in Hungary

Policing Travellers in Ireland: New Study Finds Little Trust in the System and Calls for Explicit Ban on Racial Profiling

Policing Travellers: Ireland’s Deeply Ingrained Racial Divide

Report Exposes Police Brutality and Racism Against Roma During COVID-19 Lockdowns

Submission to the UN CERD on Bulgaria including Police Violence

Submission to the UN CERD on Slovakia including Police Violence (page 5)

Submission to the UN CAT on Serbiat

Submission to ECRI on France

Submission to the European Commission on the Race Equality Directive and the Policing Gap

THE EVIDENCE

Institutional racism in Europe's law enforcement agencies is only one part of a much larger, institutionally racist criminal legal system.

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Romani people usually enter the criminal legal system as plaintiffs (as victims of a crime) or as defendants (accused of a crime).

In both cases, they are often assumed to be guilty from the very beginning.

Aleksandar Olenik
Lawyer, Serbia

“The fact that someone is educated, for example a law graduate, [someone who] has experience as a judge, as a prosecutor, absolutely does not mean that they have changed an attitude which they formed during their earliest childhood, in their family or in society…People don’t recognise that it’s racism. They don’t recognise it from the beginning and when it’s explained to them, they have a hard time accepting it. But they accept it in the end.”

Michal Zalesak
Lawyer, Slovakia

“The victims, as has happened in other similar cases, ended up before the European Court of Human Rights. Only in the proceedings before this court could they receive justice.”

Miroslav Brož
Activist, Czech Republic

“As far as a repressive justice system, police system, and their effect on Roma issues, we know that there’s a difference in how they treat Roma, how they are discriminated and brutalised. I think it’s now the final hour for emancipation of the Romani community.”

Mustafa Asanovski
Activist, North Macedonia

“The evidence confirms that at every stage of a criminal procedure, from arrest to sentencing, accused Roma face discriminatory attitudes and prejudices that lead to altered decisions and unfair judicial verdicts.”

Senada Sali
Lawyer, North Macedonia

“Defence attorneys stated that in most cases Roma end up in prison without evidence. Romani suspects are treated as the accused in advance and judicial authorities take advantage of the fear and ignorance of this part of the population.”

Romani people's rights to a fair trial and access to justice are rarely respected.

Many ERRC cases before appellate and international courts concern the failure to treat Roma fairly before the law.

Legal Cases

Assenov v Bulgaria (1998)

Nachova and Others v Bulgaria (2005)

Moldovan and Others v Romania (2005)

Bekos and Koutropoulos v Greece (2005)

M.H. and Others v Slovakia (2022)

X and Y v North Macedonia (2021)

Death of Daniel Jiménez Jiménez, Spain (2020)

M.F. v. Hungary (2018)

Eremiášová and Pechová v. the Czech Republic (2012)

Fedorchenko & Lozenko v Ukraine (2012)

The European Roma Rights Centre and Fair Trials have carried out research across Europe on how criminal legal systems are biased against Roma.

The evidence shows that Roma face unfair outcomes at every single stage of the system.

In cases where the police are responsible for carrying out an investigation into hate crimes, they often neglect to investigate racist motivation.

When it is the police themselves who are being investigated, the chances of any officers being found guilty is close to zero. Since the ERRC was founded in 1996, there have been only 9 cases across all of Europe where police officers have faced a criminal sentence for racist misconduct against Roma.

When awaiting trial, Roma are significantly more likely to be held in pre-trial detention for minor, low flight-risk crimes.

The charges against Roma are generally more severe than is warranted.

Research in several countries has found that the presumption that Romani defendants are guilty is a widespread bias amongst judges, juries, and prosecutors.

In sentencing, Romani defendants feel the full force of the criminal legal system. They are much more likely to receive sentences on the higher end of the sentencing guidelines and are more likely to serve longer parts of those sentences before (or if) they get parole.

Roma in the Criminal Justice System of Serbia

Roma in the Criminal Justice System of North Macedonia

Roma in the Criminal Justice System of the Czech Republic

Roma in the Criminal Justice System of Slovakia

UN Condemns Anti-Roma Racism, Lack of Access to Justice, and Hate Speech in Slovakia

Romania: Romani Woman Publicly Beaten by Bus Driver Gets Fined for Disturbing the Peace

Anti-Roma Racism in the Criminal Justice System: ‘Enhancing the Training Strategies of Law Enforcement’ Just Won’t Suffice

New EU Roma Framework Falls Short on Police Brutality, Justice, & Segregation

THE EVIDENCE

Image of a human shadow on a prison cell wall

Biases in investigations, prosecutions, and sentencing result in an over-representation of Romani people in prisons in virtually every country in Europe.

In many countries, Roma face racist treatment and poor conditions inside penal institutions.

In 2017, gross medical negligence and suspected abuse by prison guards killed four Roma in North Macedonia.

ROMANI PRISONERS DYING IN NORTH MACEDONIAN PRISONS

Young Romani Man from Macedonian Prison Dies Under Suspicious Circumstances Another Romani Man Dies in Macedonian Prison Prisons Becoming a Death Sentence for Roma Fourth Romani Prisoner Dies in Macedonian Prisons ЕПЦР: Четврти Ром затвореник почина во Идризово во само девет месеци Romani Families Sue Over Prison Deaths in Macedonia Government Settles with the Families of Two Roma who Died in Prison Victory for Roma: Macedonia Agrees to Pay Compensation for Roma Prison Death Macedonia will pay compensation to the families of two Roma who died in prison

When Roma finally exit the criminal legal system, they must contend with the double stigma of being both Romani and an ex-convict.

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"The police and investigators, prosecutors, it is all just one gang. You cannot trust anyone here. Whatever you claim, she [police investigator] will refute it as if she was present, standing there with us. They want to turn everything against us."
(Romani Interviewee, Slovakia)

"without our lawyer, we would be convicted already."
(Romani Interviewee, Slovakia)

"[The two of us] have been jailed here for 5 months and seven months because we allegedly stole wood from a forest under the criminal offence of theft. One of us received an extra two months because they said we stole electricity as well (all Roma are illegally connected in my neighbourhood). These allegations were confirmed without any evidence. The court made its decision on the sole basis of the forest police's testimony."
(Romani Interviewee, North Macedonia)

"I am aware of 30 cases that are similar to mine, all involving non-Roma who were jailed for the same criminal offence (theft) but who only got three years (compared to the respondent's 11 years). It is only Roma who get harsher or longer sentences."
(Romani Interviewee, North Macedonia)

"Police and judges see us as criminals here in Shtip. On one occasion, the police came to our house to take my brother to the police station. They forcibly took us there. I told them to wait for us to get dressed because it was morning and they replied that we Roma were liars."
(Romani Interviewee, North Macedonia)

"If you refuse to admit guilt, you will end in a pre-trial detention."
(Romani Interviewee, North Macedonia)

"It was not easy, everyone was astonished that they had me imprisoned. It was the hardest thing for the family, and I still feel anger over the injustice, it still affects my mental health."
(Romani Interviewee, Serbia)

"When boys get into a fight, only we (Roma) go to prison."
(Romani Interviewee, Czech Republic)

"In prison 'B' here, most of the inmates are young Roma men."
(Romani Interviewee, Czech Republic)

"[It has been] very hard. [It's a] shame, my wife just gave birth and I'm in jail. I admit that I stole 100kg of iron, [but] I did it to feed my family. Now that's why everyone looks at me like I'm a criminal."
(Romani Interviewee, Serbia)

MANIFESTO

Europe’s criminal legal systems are not broken. They are functioning exactly as they were designed to.

They just weren’t designed to serve Roma and other racialized minorities.

Our criminal legal system cannot be fixed in isolation without tackling antigypsyism throughout society. Before we can have an equitably functioning criminal legal system, we must:
Ensure full provision of adequate legal aid.
Dismantle many existing law enforcement structures and replace them with community policing working in tandem with well-funded and well-trained social services, mental health provision, drug rehabilitation, and community infrastructure.
Advocate for policies to overcome segregation and associated over-policing. That means building social housing and providing basic infrastructure to segregated Romani communities.

A better criminal legal system will not happen unless we demand it. Either through direct action, litigation, brave journalism, or demanding public inquiries into rights abuses; holding those responsible accountable is the most important thing we can do.

Europe’s criminal legal systems were not designed to deliver justice for racialized minorities. They were created under the illusion that all people are equal before the law. For Roma, this is simply not true.

We demand an alternative to this unjust system.

The Roma Justice Project

Overcoming Antigypsyism in the Criminal Legal System