Short Country Report—Criminalising Hate Speech: North Macedonia

In the Republic of North Macedonia, measures for criminalizing hate speech have been accepted within the provisions of several specific offenses within the Criminal Code. However, the Criminal Code does not specifically contain the offence of “hate speech,” nor does it specify a legal definition. Important steps regarding prevention of hate speech and all sorts of discrimination were undertaken with the enactment of the Law on Prevention of Discrimination. This law contains provisions where specific types of discrimination are defined, and specific administrative activities are undertaken in prevention of discrimination including hate speech. State Commission for Prevention of Discrimination, that is a state’s body established under the Law on Prevention of Discrimination, has performed a significant role into raising the awareness regarding prevention of the discrimination, but also undertook important activities into prevention of the discrimination in specific cases.