Currently, many large companies require employees to submit a Criminal Record Certificate as a mandatory condition for employment. However, not everyone knows what a Criminal Record Certificate is, which authority issues it, who has the right to request the issuance, and what the application and issuance procedures entail. The Editorial Board of Legal Secretary provides answers to these queries in the article below.
Article table of contents
Guide to submit applications and procedures for issuing individual Judicial Record Certificates - Illustrative image
First, what is a Judicial Record Certificate?
According to Clause 4 Article 2 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009: “A certificate issued by the judicial record database management agency which serves as proof of whether or not a person has a criminal record; whether or not the person is prohibited from holding certain positions, establishing or managing enterprises or cooperatives in case these have been declared bankrupt by the Court.”
It can be seen that the purpose of employers requesting candidates to provide a Judicial Record Certificate is to help evaluate candidates' background, specifically whether they currently have any criminal records.
According to Article 41 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, the Judicial Record Certificate includes:
- Judicial Record Certificate No. 1: Issued to individuals, agencies, and organizations upon request;- Judicial Record Certificate No. 2: Issued to procedural authorities to serve investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial work and issued to individuals who request to know the content of their own judicial record.
Second, which agency issues the Judicial Record Certificate?
Based on Article 44 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, the authority to issue Judicial Record Certificates is as follows:
The National Center for Judicial Records implements the issuance of Judicial Record Certificates in the following cases:
- Vietnamese citizens who cannot determine their permanent or temporary residence;- Foreigners who have resided in Vietnam.
The Department of Justice implements the issuance of Judicial Record Certificates in the following cases:
- Vietnamese citizens permanently or temporarily residing within the country;- Vietnamese citizens residing abroad;- Foreigners residing in Vietnam.
Third, who has the right to request the issuance of a Judicial Record Certificate?
Based on Article 7 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, the entities who are entitled to request the issuance of a Judicial Record Certificate include:
- Vietnamese citizens, and foreigners who have resided or are residing in Vietnam, have the right to request the issuance of their own Judicial Record Certificate;- Procedural authorities have the right to request the issuance of Judicial Record Certificates to serve investigative, prosecutorial, and judicial work;- State agencies, political organizations, social-political organizations have the right to request the issuance of Judicial Record Certificates to serve personnel management work, business registration activities, establishment, and management of enterprises and cooperatives.
Fourth, what is the application and procedure for issuing a Judicial Record Certificate?
Thu Ky Luat provides guidance on the application and procedure for issuing Judicial Record Certificates for individuals, agencies, and organizations upon request, commonly referred to as Judicial Record Certificate No. 1. Specifically:
APPLICATION FORM FOR REQUESTING THE ISSUANCE OF A JUDICIAL RECORD CERTIFICATE
Application:
- Application form requesting the issuance of a Judicial Record Certificate (Form No. 03/2013/TT-LLTP issued together with Circular 16/2013/TT-BTP);- Copy of the identity card or passport of the person to whom the Judicial Record Certificate is issued;- Copy of the household registration book or certificate of permanent residence or temporary residence of the person to whom the Judicial Record Certificate is issued.- Additionally, those requesting the issuance of a Judicial Record Certificate who are eligible for fee exemption or reduction must present documents to prove their eligibility.
Note: Individuals can authorize the request for issuance of Judicial Record Certificate No. 1 (authorization must be made in writing in accordance with the law and a copy of the identity card (with the original for comparison) of the authorized person. If the requester is a parent, spouse, or child of the person to be issued the certificate, no authorization letter is necessary, but documents proving the relationship must be presented.
Procedure:
- Submit 01 set of application at the Department of Justice;- Submission time: Business hours on working days.
Issuance time:
- No more than 10 days from the receipt of a valid request;- No more than 15 working days from the receipt of a valid request in the following cases: (1) The person to be issued the Judicial Record Certificate is a Vietnamese citizen who has resided in many different places or has resided abroad; (2) Foreigners; (3) Cases requiring verification of eligibility for automatic criminal record expungement.
Issuance fee:
According to Circular 244/2016/TT-BTC, the fee for issuing a Judicial Record Certificate is regulated as follows:
- Regular: 200,000 VND per time/person.- For students, people with meritorious service to the revolution, relatives of martyrs: 100,000 VND per time/person.- If the person to be issued requests more than 2 Judicial Record Certificates in one request, from the third certificate onwards, the issuing agency will charge an additional 5,000 VND per certificate.- The following cases are exempt from the fee for issuing Judicial Record Certificates:- People from households classified as poor under the law;- People residing in areas classified as especially difficult under the law.
Le Hai
