Hello, dear readers! My next article is devoted to a difficult topic - how to remove a criminal record from the database and on what grounds you can file a petition to expunge a criminal record early. Why this particular topic? The answer is simple, having a criminal record does not allow a citizen to lead a prosperous and fulfilling life, leads to frequent refusals of employment and other, more unpleasant consequences.
Once upon a time, a good friend of mine stood up for a girl and took part in a fight. As a result, he was given a two-year sentence and left prison with a record of criminal record. When he asked for help, he had to study this issue and consult with lawyers. As a result, the conviction was vacated ahead of schedule. In this article, I would like to talk about how the removal of a criminal record occurs and what a person needs to do for this.
Why is it desirable to expunge a criminal record?
A record of a criminal record for a particular person does not allow a person to lead a full life. Usually we are talking about problems with traveling to other countries, difficulties with finding employment. In addition, a criminal record can have a negative impact on a citizen’s immediate family. For this reason, many seek to remove this restriction in order to lead a normal life in the future. This issue is regulated by Article 74 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Advice! Even if a citizen moves to another region or city, the criminal record will remain, since the database is common for all regions.
Conditions for withdrawal
According to current legislation, a convicted person can count on early expungement of his criminal record if certain conditions are met:
- The convicted person has served the main sentence;
- A citizen works or studies without changing his/her place of study/work;
- The convicted person is characterized positively by his place of study/work;
- After serving his sentence, he did not violate the order;
- The convicted person admitted his guilt and repents of his crime;
- The citizen fulfilled the obligations imposed by the court in full (for example, he compensated for the moral and material damage caused).
A criminal record is expunged after its expiration, while the expungement of a criminal record is its cancellation according to a court decision.
On what grounds can you try to remove records from the database?
Only under certain circumstances can a citizen try to have his criminal record expunged. We are talking about such moments:
- The mistake was made by officials, and the information was entered into the database by accident. The entry is deleted very quickly under such circumstances.
- An acquittal was rendered against a specific person. This is a valid reason for removing the mark of criminal prosecution.
Important! Cancellation of a suspended sentence also requires removal from the database, since the mark is made there initially and remains for many years.
The statute of limitations in criminal cases can reach 25 years, so such documents are kept for the specified period. With a criminal record, everything is even more serious, since relapses are possible. It is important to add that if someone offers to delete an entry for money, you should not believe it, because this is a fraudulent scheme.
Is it possible to remove a criminal record from the database?
Having a criminal record in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database really interferes with life, because it imposes certain restrictions.
First of all, a person may not be hired for a prestigious job if it turns out that he was prosecuted. Moreover, employers can easily find a “black mark”, after which a person will be denied employment, or he will have to leave his job. There will also be problems with leaving Russia even for a holiday abroad: to Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and other countries. Because other states are reluctant to accept people with a criminal record. Moreover, it will be extremely difficult to move from the Russian Federation if the database contains information about the citizen’s dishonesty.
Considering the fact that the “black mark” has a bad effect not only on the former criminal, but also on his relatives, many want to remove it. To do this, it will not be enough to expunge the criminal record or wait a certain time. Even deleting it after years of prescription will be problematic, because information about the institution of a criminal case will be stored for 25 years. Moreover, the database in the Russian Federation is common to everyone, and moving to another city will not help.
You can try to remove a mention only in certain situations:
- An error was made by authorized employees. That is, the information was entered incorrectly. In this case, the entry will be quickly deleted.
- The court acquitted the citizen. This is a good reason to get rid of the criminal liability label.
Important! Note that even if a person is convicted on probation, an entry is still made in the database. Moreover, it will last for more than one year.
Let us emphasize once again that the statute of limitations for storing criminal cases is 25 years. But with a mark in the database, things are even more serious. The information is stored there for life, because there is a risk of relapse. Accordingly, it is important to know whether a particular person has been previously convicted.
People can only try to cancel the information through a judicial authority. But clearing your reputation is not possible in all cases. If someone offers to remove a mark for money, then they are scammers.
General procedure for expunging a criminal record
It has already been noted that removing information from a general criminal record database is not easy. It is worth emphasizing that even an expunged criminal record does not guarantee that the record was deleted automatically. Most likely, the mark will remain, and the citizen will have to worry about eliminating this information on his own. Experienced people in this matter advise initially enlisting the support of a lawyer in order to correctly draw up a claim and win the case. The simplest option is when information is entered into the general register by mistake. Such actions violate human rights and can significantly harm his life.
Otherwise, to solve the problem, you will need to do the following:
- Contact the court with a statement of claim or a petition to expunge your criminal record (a sample can be easily found on the Internet), in which you outline the essence of the problem.
- The claim must be accompanied by documentation confirming the information provided in the appeal.
- Wait until the case is heard and the judge makes a decision.
- In case of a positive outcome, it will remain to monitor the issue of deleting information from the database.
Carrying out consistent actions will allow people who have already served their sentence to get rid of the “black” mark. It is important to use these instructions, since the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not delete information even after 25 years.
When is a criminal record expunged in Russia?
The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains information about after what period a criminal record is considered expunged.
Please note! This regulatory act contains terms for expunging a criminal record depending on the severity of the crime:
- 12 months – for citizens given a suspended sentence or partially restricted in liberty;
- 3 years – for persons sentenced to a term of no more than 3 years;
- 8 years – for citizens who have served a sentence for committing serious crimes for up to 10 years;
- 10 years – for persons whose term of service exceeds 10 years (for the commission of serious crimes);
- Probation period – in the presence of a suspended sentence.
The period of expungement of a criminal record begins after the actual serving of the sentence established by the court.
What information must be included in the application?
To finally understand how to remove a criminal record from the Ministry of Internal Affairs database, it is worth paying attention to drawing up a petition. The document must contain all the important information on the case necessary to make a positive decision.
So, the application must contain the following information:
- information about the applicant and data from the judicial authority;
- reasons for removing a mark from the database;
- request to remove such information;
- legal basis for the position stated by the citizen;
- reasons to make a positive decision;
- list of documentary evidence in the form of attachments;
- date of application and signature of the applicant.
The petition is submitted to the court office, and the citizen must wait until it is considered. After this, all that remains is to enforce the decision (if it is positive) or challenge it in court.
How to write a petition
To have a criminal record expunged, a petition must be properly completed. It must indicate the following:
- Full name and registration address of the convicted person;
- The name of the judicial authority in which the petition will be considered;
- Grounds for expunging a criminal record;
- Availability of evidence confirming the correction of the convicted person;
- References to legislative norms that the court must follow to make a decision;
- List of supporting documents.
Please note! To apply to the court, you must attach documents :
- A copy of the court verdict;
- Certificate of completion of sentence;
- Characteristics from the place of work or study;
- Documents confirming compensation for material damage (receipts, payment orders);
- A certificate from the bailiffs about the termination of enforcement proceedings (in case the material damage was recovered by the bailiffs).
Other supporting documents may be required at the discretion of the court. In this case, the convicted person can file a petition to obtain evidence, and the court will independently contact the authorized bodies.
FAQ
A certificate of good conduct will be required if you are going to...
- get a contract service through the military registration and enlistment office;
- start working in both public and some private institutions;
- prepare documents for leaving the country;
- legally reside in the territory of another state;
- apply for a visa for countries in Europe, Latin and North America
- obtain a residence permit;
- extend your residence permit;
- obtain foreign citizenship;
- cooperate with banking and credit organizations;
- contact the organization of arbitration managers;
- you are a shareholder/top manager of a Russian bank
- obtain a license to conduct professional activities in the field of securities circulation;
- issue or restore passport documents;
- resolve issues regarding the adoption of children in the guardianship and guardianship authorities;
- obtain a weapons permit;
- participate in tenders, etc.
What is the validity period of a police clearance certificate?
The validity period is not indicated on the certificate of good conduct; it will indicate the date of issue of the certificate. The validity period of the documents is set by the authority requesting the certificate (police, consulate, etc.), usually it is 3-6 months.
Can I issue a power of attorney if I am abroad?
If you are a foreign citizen and permanently reside abroad, or you are a Russian citizen temporarily residing abroad, then the power of attorney must be made in Russian and certified by the Russian consulate (the Russian consulate is empowered to perform notarial acts). Is it possible to get a police clearance certificate faster for an additional fee?
Yes, this is usually possible. Find out more by phone.
To obtain a certificate yourself, where should I go?
Independently obtaining a police clearance certificate takes up to 30 calendar days, below are the addresses and telephone numbers:
Main Information and Analytical Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (GIAC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia): Address: Moscow, st. Novocheremushkinskaya, 67
Phone: 332-30-58
Main Department of Internal Affairs of the city of Moscow - issues certificates of those registered in Moscow Address: Moscow, 2nd Kolobovsky Lane, 8 (Petrovka, 38) Telephone of the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Moscow Region - issues certificates to residents of the Moscow Region Address: Moscow, Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Alley, 6 Telephone
What is indicated in the certificate of good conduct
The procedure for issuing a certificate of the presence (absence) of a criminal record, the form and procedure for filling it out are determined by the Administrative Regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the provision of public services for issuing certificates of the presence (absence) of a criminal record and (or) the fact of criminal prosecution or the termination of criminal prosecution, approved By Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation of November 7, 2011 N 1121. So, according to paragraphs. 74.4, if the criminal prosecution was terminated due to the reconciliation of the parties, unless this is a case of private prosecution (a criminal case for a crime under Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation does not apply to such), this fact is reflected in the certificate: 74.4 In the column “ there is (is not) information about the fact of criminal prosecution or about the termination of criminal prosecution on the territory of the Russian Federation" indicates: the date of initiation of the criminal case, the name of the body that made the decision, paragraph, part, article of the criminal law, the date and basis for the termination of criminal prosecution, if any information about the fact of criminal prosecution or the termination of criminal prosecution on the following grounds: due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution; as a result of the amnesty act; in connection with the reconciliation of the parties...
Responsibility for illegal employment of convicted persons
A criminal background check when applying for a job is the responsibility of the employer. For failure to fulfill this obligation and illegal employment of convicted persons, the employer may be held accountable.
Judicial practice confirms the obligation of employers to check applicants for criminal records. For example, the Arbitration Court of the West Siberian District, in its resolution dated February 22, 2018 No. F04-210/2018, held the employer responsible for allowing persons to work in the field of transport security whose criminal records he did not have at the time of concluding the employment contract.
The individual entrepreneur was fined 30,000 rubles under Part 1 of Art. 11.15.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for admission to the position of an employee responsible for compliance with transport safety who has an outstanding criminal record. Such employment is expressly prohibited by clause 1, part 1, art. 10 of the Federal Law of 02/09/2007 No. 16-FZ “On Transport Security”. The individual entrepreneur, when hiring the citizen, did not know about his criminal record.
According to the court, the employer must have reliable information that the person hired does not have an outstanding conviction for committing an intentional crime. To do this, he must request from the employee a certificate of no criminal record (paragraph 7, part 1, article 65 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). The absence of such information by the employer does not relieve him of liability provided for by law.
Thus, an employer can and should require a certificate of no criminal record from a potential employee in cases where it is impossible to allow a person with a criminal record to work.
Definition
These provisions are regulated by the provisions of criminal and criminal procedural legislation. Including, this is Article 86 of the Criminal Code and 400 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. A criminal record should be understood as a state in which a citizen is convicted for an offense he has committed. The deadline is established in court on the basis of law. Article 86 of the Criminal Code provides for certain aspects that affect a criminal record. Including:
- It is necessary to establish supervision over a person convicted by a court (in some situations it is permissible to use preventive type surveillance);
- If a citizen commits a criminal act again during the period of his criminal record, this entails an aggravation of the imposed punishment, including affecting the term.
Important
In the latter case, it should be noted that restrictions may be placed on the use of grounds for exemption from liability.
Expungement of criminal records for minors
The Criminal Code provides for a number of measures that apply to persons under the age of majority. Based on the principles of humanity, the state makes some concessions for minors in the hope that they will not commit crimes in the future.
Please note! So, other deadlines for expunging a criminal record are established for them:
- 6 months, if the sentence is not related to serving a sentence in prison (probation or restriction of freedom);
- 1 year when serving a sentence in a colony for crimes of moderate gravity;
- 3 years for persons who have committed serious crimes.
In some cases, such terms for expunging a criminal record are used for citizens aged 18-20 years. This will require a court order. The law does not provide for early expungement of criminal records for minors.
