Application to issue a certificate of conduct

Any individual who has reached the age of 14 is issued on request

• with a certificate of conduct for personal purposes (private certificate of conduct), or
• with a certificate of conduct for presentation to a German authority (certificate of conduct for official purposes).

If the person in question has a statutory representative, this person may also file an application. If the person in question has no legal capacity, only his/her statutory representative is entitled to file applications.

For written applications

The person filing the application must prove their identity and, if they are acting as a statutory representative, their power of representation. The person concerned and their statutory representative may not have themselves represented on filing the application by a person holding a power of attorney, even if they are a lawyer. The application must contain the complete personal data of the person concerned and must be signed by him/her in person. Additionally, the address is to be stated to which the certificate of conduct should be sent. The personal data and the signature must be officially confirmed. Such official confirmation may be issued by a German diplomatic or consular representation or by a foreign authority or a notary.

The certificate of conduct for personal purposes (private certificate of conduct) is only sent to the person making the application.

The certificate of conduct for presentation to a German authority (certificate of conduct for official purposes) is sent directly to the authority. The authority must grant inspection of the certificate of conduct to the person making the application on request. The person making the application may require that the certificate of conduct, if it contains entries, is first of all sent to him/her by a Local Court of his/her choice for inspection. The registration authority must inform the person making the application of this possibility. The Local Court may only permit inspection by the person making the application in person. The certificate of conduct is to be passed on to the authority after inspection or, if the person making the application opposes this, is to be destroyed by the Local Court.

If the person making the application lives abroad, he/she may require the certificate of conduct, if it contains entries, to be first sent to an official representation of the Federal Republic of Germany named by him/her for inspection. The official representation of the Federal Republic of Germany may only permit the person making the application to inspect the certificate in person. After inspection, the certificate of conduct is to be forwarded to the authority or, if the person making the application opposes this, is to be destroyed by the official representation.

The certificate of conduct is only issued in German. Any translation that may be required is to be organised by the person making the application themselves. The content of the certificate of conduct is in line with the provisions of the Federal Central Criminal Register Act.

The use to which it is to be put is to be stated when making the application.

For additional Information please follow the link below.