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Ensure access to and exchange of criminal record information

ECRIS, the European Criminal Record Information System, used by all 27 EU Member States (and the United Kingdom), ensures information exchange of convictions in a uniform, fast, and compatible way.

ECRIS is available either as a Reference Implementation (RI) that can be locally hosted by Member States, or built as a National Implementation (NI).

ECRIS RI, the ECRIS Reference Implementation, provides an integration interface enabling a seamless connection between the national criminal record registers of the Member States.

ECRIS

  • Accelerates cross-border information exchange
  • Improves data consistency
  • Supports legal compliance
  • Strengthens public-security cooperation
  • Reduces administrative overhead
  • Important Each country keeps ownership of its own criminal-record data
  • Important ECRIS provides secure and standardized exchange of data

ECRIS RI

  • Is a distributed interoperability network used by all 27 MS
  • Provides a common baseline software solution that helps Member States connect their national systems to the ECRIS network
  • Ensures a standardized integration framework
  • Ensures alignment with EU technical and legal standards

Benefits of ECRIS RI

  • Improves the exchange of information on EU nationals’ criminal records throughout the EU.
  • Ensures that information on convictions is exchanged between EU countries in a uniform, fast and compatible way.
  • Provides judges and prosecutors with easy access to comprehensive information on the criminal history of persons concerned, including in which EU countries that person has previously been convicted.
  • Removes the possibility for offenders to escape the consequences of their previous convictions in another EU Member State.

Did You Know?

ECRIS RI...

  • … is a decentralised and interoperable system for facilitating the secure electronic exchange of information on criminal records throughout the EU.
  • … is used by 23 EU Member States. Out of them, 4 (Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain) have developed their own National Implementation compatible with the ECRIS RI, according to the relevant regulation Directive (EU) 2019/884 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 amending Council Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA.
  • … was developed in April 2012 by a Consortium under the European Commission’s management.
  • … was handed over to eu-LISA in April 2020 for the operational management and continuing development of the system.
  • ... will, in tandem with the new ECRIS-TCN, allow to enhance information exchange on convictions in particular on convictions of third-country nationals. ECRIS-TCN will be a hit/no-hit system and, when a hit occurs, it will allow Member States to follow up via ECRIS.

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