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Criminal record


A criminal record or police record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record and the existence of a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country. In most cases it lists all non-expunged criminal offences and may also include traffic offences such as speeding and drunk-driving. In some countries the record is limited to actual convictions (where the individual has pleaded guilty or been declared guilty by a qualified court), while in others it also includes arrests, charges dismissed, charges pending and charges of which the individual has been acquitted.

Individuals can obtain a national criminal history to check themselves. A person may be required to present a Police Certificate as part of employment screening, as a prerequisite for volunteer work, as preparation for a court appearance, to apply for a visa to enter/stay in some countries, or to satisfy a statutory requirement. Individuals can obtain a national criminal history in through two ways:1. Their local police service.2. A CrimTrac-accredited "broker" such as a commercial background checking service provider. A list of NPCS Accredited Agencies is available from the CrimTrac website.

The Working With Children Check, which is used to screen workers and volunteers in child-related work, is a specific check for those whose criminal records are deemed to pose a high risk to children.

In Austria, criminal records, and "Strafregisterbescheinigung" (criminal record certificate) are maintained by the Register Division ("Strafregisteramt") of Federal Police Bureau Vienna ("Bundespolizeidirektion Wien"). In order to access a criminal record in Austria, a person must complete a form with relevant identification and pay a fee (in July 2014, currently 28.60 Euro, or 16.40 Euro if it is for the purposes of employment). Requests for a criminal record certificate can be taken to Police stations and will be processed and provided to the applicant immediately, or a person can request for a hard-copy to be posted to an address within Austria. In Austria, a request for a criminal record certificate can come in two forms – restricted and unrestricted disclosure. An application at the request of a future employer will be issued a restricted disclosure, which only contains unexpunged convictions and may not include less serious convictions. An unrestricted disclosure certificate is exclusively for specific state agencies (for example, firearms licensing bodies, military and law enforcement agencies), and, even then, is only issued in specific circumstances. This type of criminal record certificate contains details of all convictions. All criminal offences are recorded on the Criminal Register. Convictions are removed from the Criminal Register upon expiry of the penalty, which generally occurs when the penalty ends, but can extend to up fifteen years after the penalty has been completed. The only exception is life sentences which are not removed from the Criminal Register. Austria maintains a sex offender registry, however this is for law enforcement and intelligence purposes only.


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