Cases

Creating cases, resolving, monitoring, editing and managing cases, and more.

How to convert a preview case to a full case
What are preview cases
How to create a preview case
How to create a case
How to edit case specifications
How to resolve a case
How to monitor a case
How to delete a case
How to restore a deleted case
How to edit a passport of a case
How to link a client to a case
How does confidence work in Pascal
How to review a passport
How to filter on/search specific cases
How to create and customise case reports
How to create automated reports
How to create a cases export report
What can I do with a free version of Pascal

How to convert a preview case to a full case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.11 of Pascal.

We strive to keep our documentation up to date with each release to ensure it remains a reliable resource for our users. However, given the dynamic nature of our software development, there might be instances where changes introduced in subsequent versions are not immediately reflected in this documentation. We encourage users to refer to the latest release notes and to use the feedback mechanism for any discrepancies or requests for clarification.

Preview cases are a type of case, which gives a quick overview of found results in your screening. Depending on the results, the can be deleted or converted to a Full case.

To convert a Preview case to a Full case, the button Turn into a full case in the top left corner of the screen can be clicked in the Preview case overview page.

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When the case is turned into a Full case, the found results can be resolved accordingly.

What are preview cases

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.11 of Pascal.

Preview cases are a type of case, which gives a quick overview of found results in your screening. Depending on the results, the can be deleted or converted to a Full case.

Preview cases cannot be resolved like a Full case. They can be used to get an overview of potential hits for the person or business you are screening. All sources which have potential hits for your searched case, can be clicked on. This allows you to view the hits. Hits can be viewed in more detail by clicking on the hit, which expands the hit and displays more information.

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The details of the case can be viewed by clicking on the Case details text in the middle of top section of the screen. All search criteria used to perform the screening are present, and the case can be added to a client.

A Preview case can be converted to a Full case by selecting the Turn into a full case in the top left corner of the screen.

How to create a preview case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

Preview cases can be used to quickly screen a person or business. All sources your environment uses are searched and potential hits are shown. The hits can also be expanded to see the full information.

The main difference between a preview case and full case is that hits cannot be resolved in a preview case. They can only be viewed. A preview case can be turned into a full case if desired.

How to create a preview case

Creating a preview case is done in the same way as creating a full case. With the exception that the choice in the top right corner should be changed to Preview case instead of the standard Full case.

On the Home or Cases page, click on the New case button.
Select the type of case you would like to create Person or Business.
Select the text Full case in the top right corner.
You now see a new option appear; Preview case. Select this option to create a Preview case instead of a Full case.
Select the Sources section, to add or deselect sources from the case. The sources which are not selected, will not be searched on for this specific case.
Select the Passport check section, if you are creating a Person case and you have a passport to upload to this case.
Select the section Personal details (or Business details for a Business case) to fill in the general information of the case like Name, Aliases and Nationality (or Jurisdiction for a Business case).
Select the section Additional information to fill in additional information related to the case. In a Person case this can be the Date of birth, Country of birth, Country of residence, Additional terms and Gender. In a Business case this section consists of the business' Address and Additional terms.
Lastly, there is the option to add a Client to the case, which can be used to group several cases together in a folder and the option to search Exact or Relative. We recommend to search Relative rather than Exact, as an Exact search allows no mismatching information between your filled in information and the information available in the searched databases.
When selecting the Create case button in the bottom right corner, Pascal creates the Preview case and searches on your selected sources.

How to create a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 6.2 of Pascal.

Creating a case can be done by adding a case to a client which is achieved by clicking the New case button on the Dashboard page. A new dialog will open where several fields can be filled in concerning the case you would like to create.

Multiple fields are affiliated to your search, these are defined by the type of search that will be performed. Fields that can be filled in:

Person search
- Name - The name of the person you would like to search.
- Aliases - Variants of the person's name can be filled in here. If the name field is populated with the person's full name, including middle names, it is recommended to include only the first and last name in the aliases field, as some data will only mention the person with their shortened name.
- Nationalities - Some persons have multiple nationalities, so it is possible to select multiple nationalities in this field. We recommend filling in this field, as it greatly increases the quality of the given results in the case.
- Date of birth - The date of birth of the person. Hits without the same date of birth as filled in in your search, will get a lower confidence as it is less likely this hit is regarding the person you are searching for.
- Country of birth - The country of birth of the person.
- Country of residence - The country of residence of the person.
- Additional terms - Additional terms may be used to improve the search to specific traits of your person of interest. Additional terms can only increase the confidence of a hit. This makes it possible to give more confidence to hits that include certain terms relating to your person of interest.
- Gender - The gender of the person. Three values can be chosen from: Unspecified, Male and Female.
- Client - Option to add a client to the case you're creating.
- Confidence - The option to search for Exact or Relative matches. We recommend using the Relative as confidence. As some results of your person of interest might not have all fields you filled in present, or their name could be misspelled slightly. With Exact confidence, these hits will not be found while they might still be relative to your case.
Business search
- Name - The name of the business you would like to search.
- Aliases - Variants of the business' name can be filled in here.
- Country - The country of the business.
- Company number - The company number of the business.
- Address - The address of the business.
- Additional terms - Additional terms may be used to improve the search to specific traits of your business of interest. Additional terms can only increase the confidence of a hit. This makes it possible to give more confidence to hits that include certain terms relating to your business of interest.
- Clients - Option to add a client to the case you're creating.
- Confidence - The option to search for Exact or Relative matches. We recommend using the Relative as confidence. As some results of your business of interest might not have all fields you filled in present, or the business' name could be misspelled slightly. With Exact confidence, these hits will not be found while they might still be relative to your case.
Asset search
- Name - The name of the asset you would like to search.
- Aliases - Variants of the asset's name can be filled in here.
- Nationalities - The nationality or nationalities of the asset.
- Identifier - The identifier of the asset.
- Type - The type of the asset. Either Vessel or Aircraft.
- Additional terms - Additional terms may be used to improve the search to specific traits of your asset of interest. Additional terms can only increase the confidence of a hit. This makes it possible to give more confidence to hits that include certain terms relating to the asset you're screening.
- Clients - Option to add a client to the case you're creating.
- Confidence - The option to search for Exact or Relative matches. We recommend using the Relative as confidence. As some results of your business of interest might not have all fields you filled in present, or the business' name could be misspelled slightly. With Exact confidence, these hits will not be found while they might still be relative to your case.

After all known fields are filled in, in the dialog, the button Create case can be selected. Pascal will now start searching its databases for potentially relevant hits for your case.

When Pascal is done searching for relevant hits, the button Start resolving can be selected to get an overview of all found hits. All hits can then be evaluated to determine if they are indeed related to your person or business of interest or not. Hit that are relevant can then be included and irrelevant hits can be excluded.

Passport verification

The passport verification service allows for passport information to be added to a person search. Passport information can be inserted either manually or with a passport image.

Passport images are accepted as PDF, PNG or JPG format. The image must be clearly readable and mind that the orientation of this image must be correctly horizontally aligned.

The passport information will be extracted from the image and filled in the input fields. After the image is uploaded, please check if all information has been correctly filled in. If not, you can either provide another image of the passport or manually edit the information fields.

If the passport image is not recognised, the field can be filled in manually as well.

How to edit case specifications

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

It may be necessary to edit the case specifications if an error has been made in the original entry or if more information on a client has come to light.

Open the case of interest.
Select Edit in the Specifications card.
Edit the information fields of the case.
Select the Save button.

The updated information will be used to perform a new search. All hits that are still unresolved will be updated. Hits which have already been resolved will not change.

The case name can only be updated once per day.

How to resolve a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

After a case has been created, an overview of the case is given with all relevant information on the case. Specifications about the case can be changed, notes can be made regarding the case and found hits can be resolved.

Case overview page

On the case overview page, several cards are present:

Resolving - The resolve section in the case overview page gives you all the information regarding the hits found by the search. You can start resolving your hits by pressing the Start resolving button in this card. A red circle can appear on this card which indicates that a high risk hit or higher has been found in your case's hits. This view also gives an overview of the already resolved hits, a blue circle will appear around these buttons when an update of an already resolved hit occurred.
Risk - When risk is enabled in the services, risk will show up in your case overview. In this card you will see the overall risk of your case, which correlates to the highest risk included in your case.
Clients - All clients that are linked to this case are shown in the clients card. You can add a client through the Add client button.
Audit - This card functions as an audit where actions that have been made in the case will be tracked. This section tracks certain actions: Case assign, Case comments, Input changes, Case created, Resolving and Case status changed.
Case - The case section brings options to change case specific settings. The case status can be changed, the assignee of the case and there is an option to delete the case. There is also information regarding the searches and creation dates of your case.
Monitoring - This section offers the opportunity to start monitoring a case and will provide additional information once a case is monitored.
Specifications - Specifications show all the input fields that have been applied in the creation of the case. By pressing the edit button, the input fields can be changed. When you choose to do so Pascal will do a full search with the newly inserted data.

Resolving hits

By pressing the Start resolving button in the resolving card you can start resolving hits in the case. Pascal has six different categories where hits can be found in: Sanctions, Enforcements, PEPs, Media and Other. Per source, a maximum of 100 hits will be presented during the initial screening. Sources will be greyed out when no hits in that source have been found for your case.

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By resolving a hit, you determine if the hit is deemed relevant or irrelevant regarding the person or business you are searching for. Whether the hit is relevant or not will determine if a hit should be included with the tick button or excluded with the cross button.

A comment can also be attached to a hit when resolving, this comment can be seen by anyone opening the hit later on. In comments, you can mention another user. The other user will then receive a notification about the comment they are mentioned in. It is also possible to override the risk of a hit. You can override the initial risk of a hit by populating the Modify risk button to the desired risk.

It is also possible to resolve multiple hits at once by using the checkboxes on the left side of the hits, when multiple checkboxes are selected an action bar will appear at the bottom of the resolving panel giving you access to the resolve actions and the option to leave a comment as well.

If the policy Require comments for hits when resolving is active, hits can only be resolved with a provided comment. The include and exclude buttons are then replaced by a comment button in the resolve column of the table.

If the service Implicit feedback is turned on, the confidence of unresolved hits can change based on the already resolved hits in the active case. The implicit feedback is visualised by two arrows at the confidence value, while the initial confidence value is also still visible in the bar itself like before.

After the case is fully resolved, it is recommended to change the status of the case from In review to either Monitored or Archived.

How to monitor a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 6.0 of Pascal.

A case can be monitored to ensure a notification is received whenever new hits are added or resolved hits are updated.

The status of the case can be set to Monitored at the end of the resolving process.

Open the case of interest.
Select the Start resolving button.
Resolve all hits within a case.
Select the Start monitoring button.

Alternatively, the status of the case can be set to Monitored later. This can also be done if all hits have not yet been resolved.

Open the case of interest.
Select Start monitoring in the Monitoring panel.
Select Confirm.

The case will now be monitored at the default frequency of your environment, and a report will be send at the frequency indicated in your account's Configuration settings. The date at which the case was most recently monitored can be seen in the Last searched status in the case’s Case panel.

You can change the case of interest to have a different monitoring frequency than the default frequency chosen in the Screening Settings. To do this:

Open the case of interest.
Select Start Monitoring in the Monitoring panel if the case isn't being monitored already.
Select Edit frequency in the Monitoring panel.
Select a new frequency for each source you would like to use a different frequency.

Whenever the case has new information, Pascal will send a notification to the Action needed section in the notifications panel. Monitored cases where new high-risk hits are found, are displayed with a red Resolve button and a red dot in front of them. Monitored cases without new high-risk hits are displayed with a blue Resolve button.

Resolved hits which are updated should be re-evaluated to ensure the hit still relates to the entity.

Open the case of interest.
Select Start resolving.
Go to the Included or Excluded hits.
The status below the sources shows how many hits are up to date.
The hit which is updated has a blue Updated label.
Review the changes within this hit by expanding the hit.
Select Accept changes if the changes are accurate.
Re-assign the hit to the Included or Excluded hits if needed.

How to delete a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

A case can be deleted from the case itself, through deletion of a client or through the case manager. A user can only delete cases to which they have edit rights.

To delete a case from the case itself:

Open the case of interest.
Select the Delete case button in the Case panel.
Select the Confirm button.

The case has now been deleted.

To delete a case when deleting a client:

Open the client of intereset.
Select the Delete client button in the Client panel.
Turn on the option to Delete all associated cases of the client.
Select the Delete button.

To delete a case through the case manager:

Go to the Cases page.
Select Edit in the top right corner.
Select the case(s) that should be deleted.
Select the red Delete button.
Select the Confirm button.
The case has now been deleted.

If needed, the case can be restored from the recycle bin within 28 days. After 28 days the case will be permanently deleted.

How to restore a deleted case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

When a case is deleted, the case is moved to the recycle bin. It is stored there for 28 days after deletion and can be restored by an organisation owner or admin during that time.

Go to the Cases page.
Select the Filter dropdown in the top right corner.
Select the Show deleted cases text in the bottom right corner of the filters section. This will show all deleted cases.
Select Edit in the top right corner.
Select the case(s) that should be restored.
Select the Restore button.
Then confirm the case(s) should be restored.

The selected cases have now been restored.

Cases that are in the recycle bin can also be permanently deleted by clicking on the red Delete button after selecting the cases in step 5. Please note, it is not possible to recover a case once it is permanently deleted either manually or after the grace period of 28 days in the recycle bin.

How to edit a passport of a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

It may be necessary to edit the passport information if an error has been made in the original entry or when a client has received a new passport.

Open the case of interest.
Select Edit in the Specifications card.
Edit the information fields of the passport.
Select the Save button.

Pascal monitors the expiration date of a passport and will send a notification to the Expired passports section of the Notifications center a month before a passport is about to expire. From here, the passport may be updated.

Go to the Notifications section in Pascal.
Select the Resolve button of a case with an expired passport.
The case is opened.
Select the Update passport button in the Verification card.
Edit the information fields of the passport.
Select the Save button.

How to link a client to a case

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

To group similar cases together, you can link them to a client. With this approach, all cases belonging to a single client are grouped together.

To add a case to a client, you can follow the below steps:

Navigate to the Cases tab and select the specific case you would like to add to a client.
In the Client card, select the Add client button. A new dialog will open on the right side of the screen.
In the Add client dialog, fill in the name of an existing or new client you would like to link to this case.
If the client name already exists, it will show up below the client name you filled in.
- Select the client you would like to attach to this case.
- Click on the Add clients button at the bottom of the dialog.
If there is no client which matches your filled in client name, nothing will show up below the searched client name.
- The button Create new client can be selected.
- The client is now created, and can be added to the case by selecting the Add clients button at the bottom of the dialog.

How does confidence work in Pascal

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 6.2 of Pascal.

Once a search has been performed Pascal tries to match the entered search query against the data in its database. Each hit is given a confidence score based on the matched fields between the input text in the search and the hits in the database. This confidence score indicates the likelihood of correlation between the performed search and the found hit.

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The confidence score of a hit can range from 0 to 100. Hits with a confidence score that fall below the set confidence threshold will not be shown in the resolving view (this policy can be viewed and changed in Policies under Settings).

A confidence score of 100 indicates that all the input text in the performed search is available and matches completely with the data in the hit. If some input fields in the search match partially, are not available in the hit, or do not match at all the confidence score will be lower. How much the score is lowered depends on the importance of a field and the similarity between the input and the hit.

The confidence score can be lowered by:

Mismatched values - Values of a specific field in the input and the data in the hit do not match at all. For example, the nationality in the case input is set to Spain, but the nationality in the hit is France. Mismatched values have a high impact on the confidence score.
Data unavailable in the hit - Value of a specific field in the input are not present in the found hit. For example, the search input contains the nationality Spain, but the hit does not contain a nationality. Unavailable values have a low impact on the confidence score.
Partial match - The value in the case and the value in the hit are similar but not identical. For example, the given case name is John Doe and the hit name is John Doey. Partial matches range from high impact to a low impact on the confidence score, depending on how many characters of the values do not match.

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The explanation of a hit can be found by clicking Show more at the bottom of a hit. Then a similar explanation as displayed above can be found. The first two columns show the type and values that have been entered in the performed search. The column Matches shows if and where the searched information has matched in this specific hit.

For example, the searched name John Doe has a match with the alias in the hit in the image above. The tag Not available means that the hit did not include that type of information. The tag No match means that the searched information is not found in the hit. The tag could also be orange instead of green, which indicates that the values partially match.

Values inputted in the search, are checked against one or more fields in the hits:

Name - The entered name in a person or business case is checked against a hit’s name and aliases, if they are present. In news articles the inputted name can also match in the title and mentioned connections in the article (persons or organisations).
Alias - The entered aliases in a person search are treated as additional names, they are checked in the same way as the name.
Company number - The entered company number in a business search is checked against a hit's company number and additional information.
Nationalities - The entered nationalities are checked against a hit's nationality. Only one of the provided nationalities needs to match in the hit.
Country - The entered country is checked against a hit's country and nationality.
Country of birth - The entered country of birth is checked against a hit's birthplace.
Country of residence - The entered country of residence is checked against a hit's country in the mentioned address.
Date of birth - The entered date of birth is checked against a hit's date of birth.
Gender - The entered gender is checked against a hit's gender.
Address - The entered address is checked against a hit's address.
Additional terms - The entered additional terms are checked against all fields.

Implicit feedback

Pascal assists in the resolving process by offering Implicit Feedback. This is a service that can be enabled in Services. Implicit Feedback learns from the hits that have already been resolved and will adjust the confidence level of an unresolved hit accordingly. The confidence will increase if an unresolved hit has large overlap with hits that are already included, and the confidence will decrease if an unresolved hit has large overlap with hits that are already excluded. The original confidence will remain within the bar, while the adjusted confidence by implicit feedback will be indicated with markers on top of the confidence bar. The implicit feedback confidence score is shown by arrows on the confidence bar, while the initial confidence will still be shown as a blue bar within the confidence bar section.

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Relative and exact confidence

Person and business cases can be performed with a Relative or Exact confidence. This can also be altered after the case is already created in the case’s Specifications card. Using Relative or Exact for the search confidence greatly affects the shown results.

When a case is searched with an Exact confidence only hits with a confidence score of 100 will be shown. No incorrect fields or spelling mistakes are allowed, as one divergent character will not get an exact match which will result in a lower confidence score than 100. If a value is missing from the hit information, but it is included in the input of the search, it is allowed to not match as this is just missing data in the hit information and not a mismatch.

When a case is searched with a Relative confidence, hits with lower confidence scores are also presented. However, hits with a confidence score below the set confidence threshold in the policy settings will not be shown. This option does allow spelling errors, missing or incorrect fields. How much mismatches or partial matches are allowed depends on the set confidence threshold in the policies.

Confidence policy

Please note that an organisation can set a confidence threshold which can affect the shown hits. Hits with a confidence score below the set confidence threshold will not be shown. The confidence threshold can be changed by an owner or admin in your organisation. However, the confidence can be viewed by all users by going to Settings and then selecting the Screenings page. On the Policies page, in the Full cases card, the confidence threshold value(s) can be found.

How to review a passport

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

Pascal offers a passport verification service which assist in determining the validity of a passport. Pascal will generate a Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ) code based on the information provided in the passport. If the MRZ code in the passport matches the one that is generated by Pascal, it is more likely that the passport is valid.

Create a case using a client’s passport.
Select the Review button in the Verification card.
Compare the information in the passport to the information in the Passport verification card.
Ensure the MRZ code of the passport matches the MRZ code generated by Pascal.
1. Select Accept if the MRZ codes match.
2. Select Reject if the MRZ codes do not match.

How to filter on/search specific cases

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 6.2 of Pascal.

To do this go to the Cases tab.
In the right top corner you select Filter.
This will open a section where you can select your filters.
- Name - Search the name of the case.
- Date of creation - You can choose a previous time duration, or select a date on the calendar.
- Last modified - You can choose a previous time duration, or select a date on the calendar.
- ID - The case ID.
- Status - Check the box with the status of the case you're looking for.
- Assignee - You can choose users or groups to which the cases should be assigned to.
- Clients - Select to which Client a case is linked.
- Risk - Select the risk the cases should adhere to.
- Show deleted cases - Shows all cases that have been deleted.
- Assign filters - Show all cases that have you as assignee or you as the collaborator.
- Input filters - Make a selection of cases based on the nationalities or countries of the cases.
- Resolve filters - Select the filter(s) of the cases that have or have not been resolved or cases that have updated hits
- Reset filters - Set all filters back to default. The default is that no selections have been made and the field are not filled in
- Export cases - Make a global case report of all the cases that comply with all the selected filters.

How to create and customise case reports

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

The current data of a case can be saved by creating a customised case report. This case report can be downloaded directly or send to the user’s email.

Open the case of interest.
Select the Download case report button in the top right corner.
Choose the content that should be included in the case report.
Determine whether to include more detailed information for resolved hits.
Optional: add a report comment and change the filename.
Select the Download or Email button.

This case report will now be generated and can be either downloaded directly or will be send to the user’s email box.

Generated reports will be stored for 90 days and can be found on the Reports page in Statistics. A user is only able to view the reports they have generated themselves. Once a report has been deleted it cannot be restored.

Content of the case report

By default, all content is included in a case report. When a user only requires the audit information, all other content can be unselected to create an audit report of the case.

Overview: a brief overview of the main contents and status of a case.
Input: the case input as provided by the user.
Policies: the current confidence thresholds as determined in the policies.
Key Findings: an overview of the number of unresolved, included, and excluded hits per source.
Audit: an overview of the actions taken by a user or group at a specific time.
Audit comments: the comments that correspond to the audit trial.
Include: an overview of all included hits per source.
Exclude: an overview of all excluded hits per source.
Passport Verification: an overview of the passport verification information.

A user can choose to add more detailed information to the overview of the included and excluded hits if needed. The detailed information contains all information that is known for a hit, whereas the less detailed information only contains the most important information.

How to create automated reports

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

Case reports can now be automatically generated each month. This will be generated on the first day of each month in cases where the green Automated tag is present. You can turn this feature on for every case that requires an automatic monthly report.

Go to the Cases tab and select the case for which you would like to have an automated report.
Select the Download case report button in the right top corner and turn on Automatically generate monthly reports. You do not have to select Download or Email to save this setting. This option is available for all viewable cases.

How to create a cases export report

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 5.12 of Pascal.

In Pascal multiple type of reports can be generated, for example to share information with colleagues in a structured and convenient matter. A global cases report can be one of those reports. The global cases report gives an overview of all created cases, adhering to the selected filters. It generates a CSV file with:

Name - The name of the case.
Type - The type of case this can be Business or Person.
Status - The status of the case.
Client - The Client the case is linked to. If no Client is linked this will be empty.
Risk - The risk of the case.
Resolve progress - The percentage of resolved hits within a case.
Assignee - The assignee of the case.
Last modified - The date that the case was last modified.
Case ID - The identification number of the case.

How to create a global case report.

Go to the Cases tab.
Select Filter in the right top corner.
Select Export cases.

What can I do with a free version of Pascal

This documentation, including images, videos and text, is accurate as of Version 6.0 of Pascal.

In the free version of Pascal all datasets are available to be searched on, giving you coverage for sanctions, enforcements, PEPs and media information. It is possible to configure which datasets you would like to use in you Billing and Products page in the Settings of Pascal.

This Settings page can be found by:

Click on the environment name in the top right corner
Select Settings next to the environment name.
Navigate to the Billing tab in the top of the page.
In the Billing details page, the plan can be viewed or altered by selecting the Edit free plan button.

A free plan is limited to only 50 searches per month. Upgrading to a Pay-as-you-go plan, will enable you to use Pascal unlimited.