A certificate of good conduct provides information on whether the person named in it has a criminal record or not.
There are two types of criminal record certificates:
- the private certificate of good conduct (N) for private purposes, for example for presentation to an employer, and
- the official certificate of good conduct (O) for submission to a German authority, for example in connection with an application for a driving licence.
The content of a certificate of good conduct is taken from the Federal Central Criminal Register.
The Federal Central Criminal Register contains, for example
- criminal convictions,
- certain decisions by administrative authorities and courts or
- court decisions and orders of a criminal prosecution authority by which criminal proceedings have been concluded without a conviction due to proven or unprovable unfounded guilt.
However, not all entries in the Federal Central Criminal Register are included in the certificate of good conduct.
Section 32 of the Federal Central Criminal Register Act (BZRG) determines the content of certificates of good conduct.
Numerous entries are excluded from inclusion, particularly in the case of private certificates of good conduct. For example, convictions for a fine of no more than 90 daily rates or a prison sentence of no more than three months are not included in a private criminal record if they were not based on a sexual offence pursuant to Sections 174 to 180 or 182 of the German Criminal Code and no other sentence is entered in the register.
In addition, Sections 33 and 34 BZRG stipulate that convictions are no longer included in a certificate of good conduct after a certain period of time has elapsed if there is no exception in accordance with Section 33 (2) BZRG.
If the Federal Central Criminal Register does not contain any data relevant to the certificate of good conduct, the certificate of good conduct will state "Content: no entry". The person concerned may then describe themselves as not having a criminal record.
If a person who (also) has the nationality of another Member State of the European Union or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland applies for a certificate of good conduct, a European Certificate of Good Conduct is automatically issued, which also contains the notification of entries in the criminal record of the Member State of origin, provided that the latter provides for transmission in accordance with its law.