Oikeusrekisterikeskus - Legal Register Centre - Criminal records - Extract on criminal background

Extract on criminal background

An extract on criminal background is only granted to the person concerned. The person cannot authorize e.g. his/her employer to order the extract.

The extract is merely intended to be presented to an employer or an approving authority for inspection. The employer or the authority must not gather or store the data of the extract on criminal background. The employer can only make a note in his documents of the extract having been presented and in this connection write down the identifying data of the extract, those being the name of the person in question and the date of the extract.

The Ministry of Labour has issued more detailed instructions on the employer's obligation to demand the extract on criminal background for inspection, as well as on other related matters. The instructions are available (in Finnish) on the web pages of the Ministry of Labour.

Ordering the extract

When ordering the extract, you must state for which employer and job you order it. If the applicant for a job, within the above-mentioned six months' period of validity, has to present his/her register data yet to another employer than for whom the extract was ordered, he/she can use the previously ordered extract. The procedure of checking the criminal background is not applied to employment relationships or civil service relationships that last the maximum period of three months.

The extract on criminal background is sent to the orderer's home address. The extract is free of charge.

The extract can be ordered with a free-form application in writing or by using the form designed for the purpose. The application can be sent by mail, telefax or e-mail. You can also fetch the extract personally from the Legal Register Centre, in which case you have to be prepared to prove your identity. The extract can not be ordered by phone. You had better sign the application. An application without signature sent by e-mail can be accepted if it contains the applicant's contact data and there is no reason to suspect its authenticity or integrity.

Address: Legal Register Centre, PL 157, 13101 Hämeenlinna
E-mail: oikeusrekisterikeskus(a)om.fi Use @ instead of (a) when sending
Fax: +358 10 36 65783
Information: from 9.00 to 16.15, tel. +358 10 36 65662 or +358 100 86208

Contents of an Application

A free-form application must contain:

• that the person wishes to order an extract from the criminal records for establishing the criminal backgrounds of persons working with children
• the orderer's full name
• social security number (date and place of birth in case there is no code)
• the orderer's mailing address and telephone number, or other contact data
• the employer or authority for whom the extract is ordered
• the office or duty for which the extract is ordered
• date and signature. An application without signature sent by e-mail can be accepted if there is no reason to suspect the authenticity and integrity of the application.

Data of the Extract

The employer or some authorities must demand the extract on criminal background for inspection if the duties essentially involve working with children on a permanent basis. Only the data in the criminal records that are considered to have special significance when a person works with children are entered in the extract on criminal background. Accordingly, the data regarding a decision on a person having been sentenced for any of the following offences are included in the extract:

1. Offences against children:

• possession of an indecent picture of a child
• sexual exploitation of a child
• grave sexual exploitation of a child
• buying sexual services from a young person

2. Sexual offences:

• rape
• grave rape
• coercion into sexual intercourse
• coercion into a sexual act
• sexual exploitation
• procuration
• presentation of an indecent picture

3. Violent offences:

• manslaughter
• murder
• homicide
• grave assault
• grave robbery

4. Narcotics offences:

• narcotics offence
• serious narcotics offence
• narcotics abuse offence
• preparation for the commission of a narcotics offence
• abetment of a narcotics offence

If a person has not committed any of the above offences, the extract on criminal background contains evidence of that. Accordingly, it does not appear in the extract on criminal background whether the criminal records contain data on other than the offences listed above.

The extract on criminal background must not be older than six months when presented to an employer or authorities.

Updated 20.3.2009