Criminal records do not always stop at a country’s borders. The information associated with them should not either. Facilitating the swift and secure exchange of this information between judicial systems is the starting point of ICARO, an initiative promoted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through which Ineco will bring its expertise in interoperability and digital justice transformation to Latin America and the Caribbean.
The project will establish a regional network for the electronic exchange of criminal records, drawing on the technological and operational principles of ECRIS (European Criminal Records Information System), the platform used across the European Union and the United Kingdom to share this information between jurisdictions. Ineco will provide the technical, functional and organisational support required to adapt these principles to the Latin American and Caribbean context and assist participating countries throughout implementation.
The new solution will enable the standardisation and structuring of requests and responses between authorities, support a harmonised approach to the identification of individuals and records, and incorporate robust traceability, security and confidentiality mechanisms. Its objective is to streamline cross-border criminal record checks and strengthen judicial cooperation in tackling transnational crime and organised criminal networks.
From Spain to Latin America
ICARO marks a further step in the internationalisation of the capabilities that Ineco has developed over many years in the field of digital justice and interoperability between judicial systems. Since 2016, the company has collaborated with Spain’s Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with Parliament on the digital transformation of the Justice Administration. Within this collaborative ecosystem, Ineco currently contributes the expertise of more than 500 professionals.
A particularly significant part of this experience is linked to ECRIS, the European system that now serves as the benchmark for ICARO. Ineco has been involved in its development and evolution in Spain, including the third phase of deployment, which introduced the exchange of fingerprint data with eight European countries. The company also fully developed ECRIS 2, the new version launched in June 2022 as part of an EU project led by Spain.
This expertise is complemented by Ineco’s strategic consultancy role in other key initiatives aimed at modernising Spain’s justice system, including ATENEA, the new case management system; interoperability projects connecting different judicial platforms; and Justicia Folder, which provides citizens and legal professionals with digital access to justice-related services and information.
This accumulated knowledge will now form one of the foundations of ICARO’s deployment. Ineco will be responsible for transferring and adapting the technological and functional experience gained through ECRIS to the new regional environment. The company will also configure the tool in testing environments, train users and administrators, and provide implementation support. The project additionally includes the maintenance and ongoing development of the solution, as well as operational assistance for participating countries.
Six Countries to Launch the Initiative
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala and Panama will be the first beneficiary countries of ICARO under the initial phase envisaged by the IDB. Representatives from all six countries took part in a workshop held in Panama City last July, organised by the multilateral institution to present the initiative and advance the technical and institutional consensus required for its implementation.
Through ICARO, the expertise developed by Ineco in digital justice, interoperability and electronic public services will be projected internationally, creating new opportunities to bring these capabilities to future security, justice and digital transformation projects across Latin America and the Caribbean.
