Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

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NORTHERN IRELANDPolice Code of EthicsThe Police Service of Northern Ireland Code of Ethics is regularly reviewed andupdated. Article 6 of the 2008 Code states that:Police officers shall act with fairness, self-control, tolerance andimpartiality when carrying out their duties. They shall use appropriatelanguage and behaviour in their dealings with members of the public,groups from within the public and their colleagues. They shall giveequal respect to all individuals and their traditions, beliefs and lifestylesprovided that such are compatible with the rule of law.In carrying out their duties police officers shall treat all persons orclasses of persons equally regardless of race, colour, sex, language,religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, associationwith a national minority, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital orfamily status, property, birth or any other status. Any difference in treatmentshall be required to be justified and proportionate.Breaches of the code may result in a criminal or disciplinary investigation, either bythe Office of the Police Ombudsman or by the Police Service. 69 In practice, however,several high profile cases of blatant breaches of the Code of Conduct have notresulted in disciplinary action. 70 (As noted above, this code does not apply to securityand intelligence services.)AUSTRIALegal Guidelines on Non-Discriminatory ConductThe Austrian Security Police Law states that officers of public security services “... shallrefrain from any conduct that may create the impression of prejudice or which couldbe perceived as discrimination on account of gender, race or skin color, national orethnic origin, religion, belief, political opinion or sexual orientation.” 71 The emphasison actions that could be perceived as discriminatory establishes an obligation onpolice services to avoid giving any impression of discrimination in their conduct.The Police Law does not offer practical guidance on the proper conduct of law enforcementactions and how to avoid creating the impression of prejudice or discrimination.The guidelines do provide for redress through the Independent AdministrativeTribunal, but the process is reportedly cumbersome and expensive, and does notresult in disciplinary measures, only a finding on whether or not a violation hasoccurred.40 LEGAL STANDARDS AND INSTITUTIONAL POLICIES TO ADDRESS ETHNIC PROFILING
General principles of good practice for police codes of conduct:Codes of conduct should set out clear non-discrimination values and standards.Codes of conduct should provide practical standards specifically tailored to lawenforcement.Copies of codes of conduct should be distributed to all law enforcement officers,and training on the code should be provided both in basic academy training butalso in ongoing in-service training.Codes of conduct should be enforced, most importantly by the law enforcementmanagers and supervisors whose actions or inaction send a powerful messageabout organizational values, but also by external oversight mechanisms (seeChapter IV below).Operational Guidelines on Thresholds for Action andOther Practical GuidanceMany EU member states give their law enforcement agencies broad powers to stop andsearch people without requiring that they have some reason to suspect the person ofunlawful activities (also known as the reasonable suspicion standard). Few countrieshave specific operational guidance addressing the validity (or lack thereof) of usingethnicity, race, national origin, or religion as grounds for suspicion. Requiring thatofficers have grounds for reasonable suspicion based on a person’s behavior rather thantheir appearance is a fundamental safeguard against ethnic profiling. Data from theUnited Kingdom show that when officers are allowed more discretion to stop and searchpeople, disproportionality increases and effectiveness decreases. 72 That is, the morelicense officers have to stop whoever they want, the more likely they are to fall back onprejudices and stereotypes, leading to more ethnic profiling and more fruitless stops.The requirement of reasonable suspicion is established in European norms oflaw enforcement. The European Code of Police Ethics declares that “police investigationsshall, as a minimum, be based upon reasonable suspicion of an actual or possibleoffence or crime.” 73 The European Court of Human Rights has established that “suspicionmust be based on reasonable grounds that form an essential part of the safeguardagainst arbitrary arrest and detention. The fact that a suspicion is held in good faithis insufficient. The words ‘reasonable suspicion’ imply the ‘existence of facts or informationwhich would satisfy an objective observer that the person concerned may havecommitted the offense.’” 74REDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 41
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Page 6 and 7: described in this report. The case
Page 9 and 10: List of Case StudiesThe case studie
Page 11 and 12: UNITED KINGDOMAUSTRIA/BELGIUM/BULGA
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Page 16 and 17: The United Nations, the Council of
Page 19 and 20: I. Ethnic Profiling DefinedA Compre
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Page 29 and 30: of the ethnic minorities disproport
Page 31 and 32: II. A Holistic Approachto Reducing
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Page 35 and 36: III. Legal Standards andInstitution
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Page 39 and 40: ImmigrationThe Equality Act covers
Page 41: FRANCEObligation of Non-Discriminat
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Page 47 and 48: has lasted for an hour, the examini
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Page 51 and 52: the person could pose a threat to p
Page 53 and 54: Improving law enforcement relations
Page 55: IRELANDPolicing Plan 2008The Garda
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Page 68 and 69: NETHERLANDSNational OmbudsmanThe Du
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Page 78 and 79: used, such as those described below
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The study revealed that in addition
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esponses, and in some cases, broad
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UNITED STATESAttitudinal Survey of
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UNITED KINGDOMThe Views of the Publ
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NORTHERN IRELANDBeyond the Margins:
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DENMARKMedia Reporting of Police St
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VI. Strategies for Reducing EthnicD
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people were stopped and valuable po
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only do so if the measure is determ
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Supervision and Oversight of Front-
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This is not to say that stop forms
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• Recording of self-defined ethni
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UNITED KINGDOM“Know Your Rights
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Prior to the ride-alongs, many Hung
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General principles of good practice
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UNITED KINGDOMMonitoring the Qualit
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GREECEProhibition of Racist Languag
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This handbook recommends that law e
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Where possible, training should inc
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SWEDENPolice and Youth Sharing Expe
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Training in the Counter-radicalizat
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VIII. Changing Institutional Cultur
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and Wales have used the package. Mo
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NORTHERN IRELANDCreating a More Bal
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Moroccan man. Another minority offi
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other characteristics or values. Co
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Take steps to ensure that all parts
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Law enforcement agencies must be se
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A large number of Polish migrants h
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variety of individuals with “life
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UNITED KINGDOMCommunity Stop and Se
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their needs, and problems, and hear
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to travel as far as Liverpool to ac
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The strategy includes multiple init
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The website provides an interactive
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Appendix A:Sample Stop Forms171
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REDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EU
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Fuenlabrada, Spain Stop FormREDUCIN
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West Yorkshire Police Stop ReceiptR
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Covenant rights that are especially
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• Necessity: The use of ethnic pr
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The clear risk of arbitrariness in
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The Committee considers that identi
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adopted on June 29, 2007, CRI/Counc
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European Union Fundamental Rights A
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Notes1. Rebekah Delsol, Open Societ
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13. A report of MI5’s behavioral
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38. From the email text sent by Tem
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57. R. Davis and P. Mateu-Gelabert,
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88. Gillan and Quinton v. United Ki
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Ireland). Of the total number of co
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139. For example, European Commissi
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165. Open Society Justice Initiativ
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197. These can be found at: http://
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230. More information can be found
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266. To undertake this kind of anal
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279. In Rosalind Williams, Spanish
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Ethnic profiling by police in Europ
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