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European Commission�DG Justice and Consumers

ECRIS

European Criminal Records�Information System

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The genesis and the why?

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  • Michel Fourniret case of 2004
  • Need to improve exchange of information on criminal record - coping with increased mobility in Europe

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  • 1959 Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance �in Criminal Matters (MLA) – art. 13 and 22
  • Criminals able to escape their past simply by moving between EU states

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Main objectives

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  • Ensure that complete criminal records information is available to the courts for EU citizens
  • Contribute to full implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of judgements – recidivism
  • Ensure that criminal records information is available when relevant for future activities of the offender (e.g. pre-employment screening, issuance of residence documents, change nationality, etc)

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Legal bases

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Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) protocol

  • No Central Authority
  • Slow and frequency
  • Difficult to understand - language barrier

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  • FWD 2009/315 on exchange of information extracted from criminal records
  • CD 2009/316 establishing ECRIS system
  • FWD 2008/675 obligation to take previous convictions into account in new criminal proceedings
  • Directive 2011/92: obligation to exchange information to protect children against sexual crime

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FWD 2008/675 obligation to take previous convictions into account in new criminal proceedings �(relevant for judicial authorities)

Art.3. Taking into account, in the course of new criminal proceedings, a conviction handed down in another Member State

1. Each Member State shall ensure that in the course of criminal proceedings against a person, previous convictions handed down against the same person for different facts in other Member States, in respect of which information has been obtained under applicable instruments on mutual legal assistance or on the exchange of information extracted from criminal records, are taken into account to the extent previous national convictions are taken into account, and that equivalent legal effects are attached to them as to previous national convictions, in accordance with national law.

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Implemented by…

  • Usage of IT to improve the exchanges

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2006 – Start of exchange in pilot project Network Judicial Registers (NJR) with BE, DE, ES and FR

2011 - Adoption of ECRIS Technical Specifications and development of ECRIS RI for 24 Member States

After introducing the electronic mode – number of msg between FR and DE during 1 month was equal to the number of those during last 10 years!

2012 April - ECRIS goes live with 15 Member States

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2009- Legal basis adopted

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Main principles

  • Decentralised network
  • 28 Central Authorities (1 per MS)

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  • MS of nationality becomes the central repository of all convictions handed down by courts in the EU against its citizens
  • MS of nationality obliged to:�- store �- update�- retransmit all information on convictions of its citizens

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Main principles

  • Any convicting MS obliged to send �immediately information on conviction to�the MS of nationality – notifications�
  • Request for extract from criminal record sent to the MS of nationality
  • MS of nationality obliged to respond:
    • For criminal proceedings 🡺 response is mandatory
    • For other purposes 🡺 response is "according to national law"

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How does ECRIS work?

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Obligation to exchange

European list of offences & sanctions

Deadline to answers

Central Auhorities

ECRIS codes

EU nationality centric

For criminal and other purposes

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An Irish national convicted in Luxembourg

Details of the conviction are notified to the Irish Central Authority

Example

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An Irish citizen is convicted in Luxemburg. The details of the conviction are notified to the Irish Central Authorities

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Common ECRIS codes (offences and sanctions) mapped against national offences and sanctions

ECRIS offence

National offence

National sanction

ECRIS sanction

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An Irish national convicted in Luxembourg

Details of the conviction are notified to the Irish Central Authority

Irish national in criminal proceeding in Spain

Example

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The Irish citizen is in a criminal proceeding in Spain.

The Spanish court/judge launches a request to Irish ECRIS Central Authority.

Example of an ECRIS Request message

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My name is "Bond"…but who is really "James Bond"?

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An Irish national convicted in Luxembourg

Details of the conviction are notified to the Irish Central Authority

Irish national in Spanish criminal proceeding

Example

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Example of an ECRIS Reply message

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�Achievements after 6 years of operation�

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  • ECRIS is up and running since April 2012
  • All 28 Member States are connected
  • More than 2.5 million messages in 2017
  • One third of replies via ECRIS includes a “positive hit” (previous conviction)

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Increasing number of exchanges

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Is ECRIS useful?

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One third of replies refer to previous convictions (positive hits)

* See also statistical report published on 29 June 2017

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Third Country Nationals (TCN)

  • No Member State of nationality
  • Need to send requests to 27 other MS
  • Inefficient and hardly used (only 10% of cases)
  • Commission proposals for ECRIS-TCN of January 2016 and June 2017
  • Future ECRIS-TCN: centralised system with fingerprints

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JUST-CRIMINAL-RECORD@ec.europa.eu

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