1.   When is a copy of the Criminal Record needed?

      - In criminal proceedings

      - When public authorities are issuing administrative decisions, where the law requires a criminal record as a supporting document.

2.   Where are Criminal Records held?

      - At the Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Office at the place of birth, for all persons born in Greece.

      - At the Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights' Independent Criminal Records Portal for all persons

          born abroad.

3.   I am a citizen. How can I submit an application for a copy of my own Criminal Record?
      You or your legal representative are entitled to submit a request for a copy of a criminal record.

      - You can turn up in person:
                - at any Criminal Records Unit at any Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Office nationwide or at the Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights' Independent Criminal Records Department.

                - You can visit a Citizen Service Centre (known as KEP in Greek)

      - You can use the electronic services provided:
                - By the ERMIS Portal
                - By the National Criminal Records Portal

4.   I am a citizen. How can I access online services to apply for and receive a copy of a criminal record?
        To access the services, you need to be treated as an authenticated user on the following systems.
           - The ERMIS Portal, by following the authentication rules set by the ERMIS Portal.
           - The National Criminal Records Portal

                    To obtain authentication for the NCR Portal you need:
                       a) to fill out and submit the online application form available on the portal.

                       b) After doing that, you need to visit the Ministry of Justice's Independent Criminal Records Department or the Criminarl Records Department at one of the Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor Office's nationwide, and present proof of your ID which can either be your ID Card or a service ID Card as long as it contains particulars that identify you, or another public document that contains similar information. If not, you will need to submit a supplementary public document.
After that, you will be deemed to be an authenticated user and can submit an application for a copy of your criminal record, monitor the progress of your application and receive and print out the document.

5.   How can I see and find out if the copy of my criminal record was issued?
        - You will receive a SMS if you have provided a mobile phone number.
        - Using the National Criminal Records Portal, if you are an authenticated user.
        - Using the ERMIS Portal, if you are an authenticated user.


6.   I represent a public agency. How can I access online services to apply for and receive a copy of a criminal record?
        To access the services, you need to be treated as an authenticated user on the following systems.

          - The ERMIS Portal, by following the authentication rules set by the ERMIS Portal (at present this service is not available).
          - The National Criminal Records Portal

     The process outlined below relates to the National Criminal Records Portal.

       If your agency frequently or very frequently submits applications as part of an internal procedure to obtain criminal records and has regional offices nationwide, it is essential for there to be Central Administrators for the agency (one example would be the Hellenic Police and local police stations nationwide).

        In this case, the Central Administrators at the agency's head offices are authenticated. Their role is to authenticate the agency's staff by filling out the relevant authentication application form.

        If your agency only submits applications infrequently as part of an internal procedure to obtain criminal records or there is no central authority, then government agency users need to be authenticated.

    In this case, apply for authentication by filling out the relevant authentication application form.
               
    In all these cases, to obtain authentication you need:
                 a) to fill out and submit the online application form available on the portal specifically intended for persons representing government agencies.
                 b) After that, you need to visit the Ministry of Justice's Independent Criminal Records Department or the Criminal Records Department of one of the Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Offices nationwide in person, with proof of your identity. This could be:

                       - A letter from your agency which contains all your ID particulars showing that you have jurisdiction to submit and receive copies of criminal records.
                       - Your personal or service ID Card.

7.   I work for a government agency and I want to confirm that the copy of the criminal record a citizen has submitted is accurate.
           - To confirm this, log on to the National Criminal Records Portal and search for the copy of the criminal record in the special search section of the portal, using the identifying particulars of the copy, which are the reference number, the date and the 12-digit identifier which appears in the lower left-hand part of the copy.
           - The copy you can see is only provided for confirmation purposes and is watermarked with the word 'COPY'.


8.   I am a citizen. How can I pick up the copy of my criminal record?

           - You can turn up in person:
- at any Criminal Records Unit at any Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Office nationwide or at the Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights' Independent Criminal Records Department.

           - You can visit a Citizen Service Centre (known as KEP in Greek)


           - You can use the online criminal record dispatch services provided:
                      - By Citizen Service Centres (KEP)
                     - By the National Criminal Records Portal


9.   I represent a public agency. How can I obtain copies of criminal records I have applied for?
      - Using the National Criminal Records Portal's online services, if you are an authenticated user.
      - The authentication procedure is explained above.

EXPLANATIONS:

- If criminal proceedings are under way, the competent judicial authorities or public prosecutor requests a copy of the criminal record.

- To issue an administrative decision, the copy of the criminal record must be applied for using internal procedures by the public administrative authority the citizen contacted which is responsible for issuing the final administrative decision (Decision No. ΔΙΑΔΠ/Α/22863/ Government Gazette 1551/B/23.10.2006).

- In all other cases, the points made in the responses to questions 3 and 4 apply.

- To be entitled to submit an application for a copy of a criminal record and receive it online, I need to be an authenticated user on either the ERMIS Portal or the National Criminal Records Portal.

- The application can be submitted from any computer that has internet access.

- To obtain authentication for the ERMIS Portal the user needs to register and then appear once only at a Citizen Service Centre to verify his ID.

- To obtain authentication for the National Criminal Records Portal the user needs to register and then appear once only at a Criminal Records Department of one of the Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Offices nationwide or at the Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights' Independent Criminal Records Department, stated when registering for the portal.

- The way in which criminal record services are organised and how criminal records are kept is specified in Articles 573 to 580 of the Hellenic Code of Criminal Procedure.

- If you encounter any difficulties or have any questions, you can contact Criminal Records Departments nationwide by phone.