Redemption (Federal Central Register)
Entries in the federal central register are subject to redemption . It has the purpose of rehabilitation, whereby the legislature assumes that criminal offenses will no longer be known to the outside after a certain period of time and will ultimately also be deleted from the files of the law enforcement authorities. The repayment then takes place according to different criteria for the
- Federal central register to which only courts, public prosecutors and certain authorities named in the BZRG have access and that
- Certificate of good conduct , which is applied for by the person concerned and is usually intended for use in the context of an application or similar.
Excluded from the eradication at the Federal Registry are sentences to life imprisonment , the arrangement of backup storage , the arrangement of the housing according to § 63 StGB to a psychiatric hospital and the continuous withdrawal of the license ( § 45 , paragraph 3 BZRG). However, repayment can be ordered in individual cases as part of an administrative procedure ( Section 49 BZRG).
After deletion, the entries in legal transactions may no longer be held up to the convicted person. He can (again) call himself unpunished. However, the removal from the register is delayed. The period in between is called the retention period.
Deadlines
The repayment is preceded by a period after which the entry is no longer included in a certificate of good conduct ( Section 34 BZRG). The actual repayment from the Federal Central Register takes place in accordance with Section 46 BZRG.
The deadline for not being included in a certificate of good conduct (Section 34 BZRG) is:
- three years: in the case of convictions of fines and imprisonment or arrest of no more than three months, imprisonment or arrest of more than three months, but not more than one year, if the execution of the sentence or a remainder of the sentence is suspended in court or by pardon, this decision has not been revoked and no further custodial sentence, arrest or youth penalty is entered in the register, in the case of a youth penalty of no more than one year;
- ten years: in the case of convictions for certain sexual offenses (Sections 174–180 or 182 of the Criminal Code) to imprisonment or youth sentences of more than one year;
- five years: in all other cases.
The deadlines for the repayment from the Federal Central Register (§ 46 BZRG) are:
- five years: in the case of convictions to a fine of not more than ninety daily rates if no custodial sentence, no criminal arrest and no juvenile sentence are entered in the register, to imprisonment or criminal arrest of no more than three months if no further sentence is entered in the register, to juvenile sentences of no more than one year, to a youth penalty of no more than two years if the execution of the sentence or a remainder of the sentence has been suspended in court or by way of pardon, to a youth penalty of more than two years if a remainder of the sentence has been suspended after the probation period has expired or has been issued by pardon, a youth penalty if the flaw has been declared in court or by pardon, by which a measure with the exception of the ban on granting a driving license forever and the professional ban forever, a secondary penalty or a secondary consequence alone or in connection with each other or in connection with Educational measures or means of discipline have been ordered;
- ten years: including in the case of imprisonment or arrest of more than three months, but not more than one year, if the execution of the sentence or a remainder of the sentence has been suspended in court or by pardon and no further custodial sentence, criminal arrest or juvenile sentence is entered in the register ;
- twenty years: in the case of convictions for certain sexual offenses ( Sections 174–180 or 182 of the Criminal Code) to imprisonment or youth sentences of more than one year;
- fifteen years: in all other cases.
Situation in Austria
In Austria , the repayment period begins as soon as all custodial sentences or fines have been executed or checked . In the case of investigated penalties, the trial period must first be passed before the repayment period begins to run retrospectively. The repayment periods are calculated according to the severity of the penalties and do not depend on the type of offense, they are between three and fifteen years.
After the expiry of the repayment period, the judicial conviction no longer appears in the criminal record certificate . The data concerning the convicted person will also be deleted from the criminal record.
In the case of unconditional imprisonment for a sexual offense or placement in an institution for mentally abnormal lawbreakers , the repayment period is extended by half or even doubled. Lifelong imprisonment, imprisonment of more than five years for sexual offenses as well as bans on activity cannot be canceled.
