Question: What is the difference between Criminal Record Certificate No. 1 and No. 2?

Legal advice on criminal record certificates

Answer:

According to the Law on Criminal Records 2009, Criminal Record Certificate No. 1 and No. 2 differ significantly in terms of their intended users and the scope of information regarding criminal records.

Criminal Record Certificate No. 1 is typically issued to individuals for administrative purposes such as job applications or applications for work permits. This certificate only reflects unspent convictions. If a person has fulfilled all obligations and meets the conditions for expungement under the Criminal Code, the certificate will state that the individual has no criminal record.

In contrast, Criminal Record Certificate No. 2 contains a broader scope of information and is mainly used for investigative, prosecutorial, and adjudicative purposes by competent authorities, or issued at the request of an individual who wishes to know their full criminal record. Unlike Certificate No. 1, Certificate No. 2 must include all convictions in the individual’s criminal history, regardless of whether they have been expunged or not. Therefore, even if a person’s record appears clean on Certificate No. 1, competent authorities can still access the full history of convictions through Certificate No. 2 for investigative and prosecutorial purposes.