New criminal records database for non-EU nationals is "disproportionate and discriminatory" (03/19)

Statewatch:  New Analysis (03/19)Home page: http://www.statewatch.org/ e-mail: office@statewatch.org

New criminal records database for non-EU nationals is "disproportionate and discriminatory"
A new EU database for holding information on convicted non-EU nationals is "disproportionate and discriminatory", says an Analysis(pdf) published today by Statewatch.

The European Criminal Records Information System for Third-Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN) will allow Member States to search for information on non-EU nationals ("third-country nationals", in the EU jargon) convicted in other Member States.

The system, to be managed by the EU Agency for Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-Lisa), will contain biographic data and fingerprints of non-EU nationals convicted in one or more EU Member States, as well as facial images, if permitted by the national law of the Member State uploading a file to the database.

Dual nationals - those holding the citizenship of both an EU Member State and a non-EU state- will also be included in the database, despite protests from international legal experts who argue that doing so will create two 'tiers' of EU citizenship and thus discriminate against dual nationals.