Brussels, 19/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - As it announced in April in its European Agenda on Security and repeated in November in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks, the European Commission brought forward a draft directive in Strasbourg on Tuesday 19 January to extend the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) to nationals of third countries, allowing member states' law enforcement authorities to exchange information.
First raised by the Commission in January 2015 in the aftermath of the first Paris terrorist attacks, the proposal would allow authorities to check whether a non-EU national has already a criminal record in another member state. At present this is not possible under the system established in 2012 which receives around 288,000 requests per year on EU citizens' previous criminal convictions, the Commission says.
When a non-EU national is convicted of a crime in a member state, the information is retained only in the convicting member state, the Commission explains. This means there is no central reference point for a non-EU national's criminal record. It is therefore not possible at the moment to determine whether a non-EU national was previously convicted in other member states without consulting them all. This procedure, the Commission goes on to say, results in significant administrative burdens for the authorities of the member states and so is rarely used.
The Commission says that, under its new proposals, when a member state convicts a non-EU national, it will, like now, store information on the person and on the conviction in its national criminal record register. The information will, however, also be stored in a separate file. Specific software will irreversibly convert the identity data into computer codes, the so-called index-filter. This index-filter will then be made available to other member states. With a simple “hit/no-hit” search mechanism, member states “will be able to search this index to identify which member state(s) hold criminal records of the individual”, a press release states.
The Commission proposes, too, that, as well as criminal records, finger prints may also be exchanged to make it easier to ensure a more secure identification. The finger print information will be included in the index-filter, the Commission says. It will be for the member states to decide whether minors should be included in the ECRIS. The same will apply for information on convictions on irregular entry or stays.
The upgrading of ECRIS will save time for law enforcement authorities, the Commission says. European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova says that it will improve coordination and cooperation and that “judges, prosecutors or the police will be better equipped” increasing the security of all citizens throughout the EU.
The Commission will present the proposals to justice ministers on Tuesday 26 January. Once the legislative process is completed, the directive will come into force one year after publication in the Official Journal. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)