Council of Europe urges Monaco to tighten hate crime laws
By Zak Jackson, MonacoViews Editorial
The Council of Europe's anti-racism commission has published its fifth report on Monaco in twenty years, calling for stronger hate crime legislation and better tolerance education in schools.
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has released its fifth monitoring report on Monaco, pressing the Principality to go further in combating hate crime and discrimination. The report, published in June 2026, marks two decades of periodic scrutiny and finds that while progress has been made, the legislative framework still falls short of the standards ECRI expects of its member states.
On the legal side, the commission is recommending that Monaco strengthen the criminal provisions covering hate-motivated offences, ensuring that bias based on factors such as ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation constitutes an aggravating circumstance in prosecutions. Separately, the report calls for more structured work within the school system to build tolerance and address discriminatory attitudes at an early age.
For Monaco residents and those with ties to the Principality, the report carries practical weight. ECRI recommendations, while not binding, carry significant reputational and diplomatic pressure, and Monaco has historically responded to previous cycles with targeted legislative adjustments. Whether the government moves to amend the penal code or introduce new educational programmes will become clearer when the National Council resumes its autumn session.