The Central Service of the Ministry of Justice, Transparency & Human Rights operates a criminal records unit (the Independent Criminal Records Department), which is responsible for keeping the criminal records of persons born abroad, or whose place of birth is not known or which the competent authorities have confirmed cannot be identified.

This unit also ensures that the country's obligations deriving from international conventions or which relate to the enactment and implementation of judicial assistance in matters of criminal records and related functions are discharged.

Article 9 of Presidential Decree 36/2000 on the organisational structure of the Ministry of Justice further states that the competences of the Independent Criminal Records Department include:

              - keeping archives of the criminal records of persons born
                 abroad or whose place of birth is unknown or which the competent authorities
                 have confirmed cannot be identified.

              - issuing and providing copies of criminal records to
                 the persons concerned.

              - discharging obligations deriving from the implementation of international
                  conventions or which relate to the enactment and implementation of rules
                  on judicial assistance on matters of criminal records and related
                  functions.

Competences of the Criminal Records Departments of Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Offices nationwide

The Criminal Record Departments of Court of First Instance Public Prosecutor's Offices are responsible for:

          1.  Officially approving, classifying, destroying, and replacing criminal
               records

          2.  Receiving applications for copies of criminal records, and checking
               and issuing those copies

          3.  Checking criminal records for all courts and issuing
               copies for judicial use

          4.  Receiving criminal records issued
               by the competent judicial authorities which are sent to it, checking them,
               classifying them alphabetically, monitoring changes, sending criminal
               records to various judicial or other authorities and deleting
               criminal records after proceedings undergo cassation, appeal, annulment or
               are repeated.