M.F. v. Hungary, No. 45855/12, ECtHR (Fourth Section), 31 October 2017

Prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment. Violent behaviors by police officers. Prohibition of discrimination. Obligation to carry out effective investigations. Link between racist attitudes and acts of violence. Burden of proof.

Art. 3 ECHR 
Art. 14 ECHR

1. The failure of the national authorities to carry out an effective investigation into the violence perpetrated by police officers does not shift necessarily the burden of proof to the respondent Government with regard to the possible racial overtones to the violent act. Such an approach would amount to requiring the respondent Government to prove in any case the absence of a particular subjective attitude on the part of the person concerned (case in which the Strasbourg Court condemned Hungary for the violation of Art. 3 ECHR, while considered that the racist motive for the incident has not been proved beyond any reasonable doubt).
2. Since proving the racial motivation will often be extremely difficult in practice, the respondent State’s obligation to investigate possible racist overtones to a violent act is an obligation to use best endeavours and not absolute: the authorities must do what is reasonable in the circumstances to collect and secure the evidence, explore all practical means of discovering the truth and deliver fully reasoned, impartial and objective decisions, without omitting suspicious facts that may be indicative of a racially induced violence.

In the grounds of the judgment, the European Court of Human Rights has specified that treating racially motivated violence and brutality on an equal footing with cases lacking any racist overtones would be tantamount to turning a blind eye to the specific nature of acts which are particularly destructive of fundamental human rights. The Strasburg Court referred in particular to the document entitled Prosecuting Hate Crimes - A Practical Guide, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE).