A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited the Czech Republic from 25 to 29 November 2019 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. During the visit, ECRI's delegation gathered information on effective equality and access to rights; hate speech and hate motivated violence; and integration and inclusion.

The delegation held meetings in Prague, Litvínov, Trmice and Předlice with representatives of national and local authorities, the equality body, civil society and international organisations.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report to be published in 2020 in which it will formulate a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to combat racism and intolerance in the country. Of these, two follow-up recommendations will be reviewed under ECRI's interim monitoring procedure two years after the publication of the report.

In its 2015 report, ECRI recommended, inter alia, that the authorities carry out their plans to introduce at least one year of compulsory and free of charge preschool for all children before entry into mainstream education. ECRI also recommended that Sections 352 (violence against a group of persons or an individual), 355 (defamation) and 356 (incitement to hatred) of the Criminal Code should include specific references to the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Link to the 2015 report on the Czech Republic