AccessNI marks busiest year ever for criminal record checks

Date published: 18 June 2026

AccessNI, a branch of the Department of Justice (DoJ), processed almost 190,000 disclosure applications in the financial year 2025/2026 – an increase of approximately 4% on the year before, according to its annual report published today.

AccessNI certificates can provide a significant level of criminal history information on applicants applying for jobs and other roles, which helps employers make more informed recruitment decisions and contributes to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in Northern Ireland.

There are three categories of check: Basic, which provides details of unspent convictions; Standard, which includes details of the applicant’s full criminal record (subject to filtering) and; Enhanced, which includes Standard information with the addition of relevant police ‘non-conviction’ information and – where eligibility is met – checks against the UK lists of those barred from working with vulnerable groups.

Almost 25% of Enhanced applications last year were referred to the PSNI.

Referrals are made to PSNI where the applicant:

• has been matched to a criminal record;
• has been matched to information on a police database;
• is undertaking certain types of work at their home; or
• lives, or has lived, in the Republic of Ireland within the last five years – cases in this category are shared with An Garda Siochána.  

On referral of an application, the PSNI determines if additional/non-conviction information should be disclosed on the applicant’s AccessNI certificate using a statutory test defined within legislation.  Referrals are also made to police forces in Great Britain.

Five applications to AccessNI from individuals barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults were detected in 2025/2026 and appropriate action taken.

AccessNI also continued to work with ACRO Criminal Records Office, the UK central authority for the exchange of criminal record information, to obtain information on nationals from 15 EU member states seeking to work with children in Northern Ireland.

AccessNI met four of six time-bounded targets set by the Minister of Justice, Naomi Long, for the issue of disclosure certificates – one less than the previous year.

It delivered a strong performance in processing disclosure applications during 2025/2026, with approximately 80% of certificates issued within two days of receipt of application. However, overall performance fell just short of the targets to issue 95% of enhanced checks within 21 days and 98% within 28 days.

Turnaround times for the enhanced check service are significantly influenced by whether third-party engagement is required, particularly police forces.

Delays associated with ‘aged cases’ (those with the PSNI in excess of 25 days), which often require extensive further investigation, have adversely impacted overall enhanced check performance in 2025/2026.  AccessNI has identified meeting Ministerial targets for the issue of checks as a key challenge for 2026/2027.