The European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) provides for the transmission of information on a conviction handed down against the national of another Member State by the Member State of conviction to the Member State of the person’s nationality and for transmission by the Member State of nationality to other Member States, on request, of information on national convictions registered in the national criminal record, information on convictions handed down in other Member States against its nationals, information on convictions handed down in third countries, subsequently transmitted to the Member State of nationality and entered in the national criminal record.
Prior to the establishment of ECRIS in 2012, information on convictions was exchanged through systems set up by the 1959 Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. These arrangements still apply to exchanges of information with Council of Europe states that are not part of the EU.