🗂️ Criminal record and deletion
In brief
The Federal Central Criminal Register records criminal convictions nationwide. After the statutory deletion period expires, an entry is deleted and from that point may in principle no longer be used to your disadvantage. The periods are graded by type of sentence, length of sentence and group of offence (simplified: 5, 10, 15 or 20 years) – a life sentence or preventive detention, by contrast, is not deleted.
Step by step
- Obtain your own register informationApply to the Bundesamt für Justiz for information on your own entries (§ 41 BZRG) – that way you know what actually affects you.
- Roughly classify the deletion periodUsing § 46 BZRG, roughly assign the entry to a group of periods (5/10/15/20 years) – the exact classification is graded in a complex way in the details.
- Note when the period startsThe period generally starts on the day of the first judgment, not at the end of prison or the probation period.
- Consider several entries togetherIf several convictions are entered, they are regularly deleted together only once the period for the most serious entry has expired.
- Invoke the prohibition on useIf an authority or employer asks about a conviction that has already been deleted or is ripe for deletion, you can invoke the statutory prohibition on use.
Deadlines
- The period matrix of § 46 BZRG is graded in a complex way in the details, with several sub-cases per paragraph – this page gives only a simplified orientation, not a binding calculation for an individual case. If in doubt, consult the text of the law or legal advice.
- The deletion period generally starts with the first judgment, not at the end of prison – anyone who mixes this up often misjudges their own deletion date.
- Several entries "extend" each other: only when the period for the most serious entry has expired are the others, as a rule, deleted too.
- A deleted entry, or one ripe for deletion, generally does not have to be disclosed, even if expressly asked – exceptions exist for certain security clearance checks.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Structure of the Federal Central Criminal Register
The Federal Central Criminal Register Act (BZRG) is federal law and applies nationwide, regardless of which federal state a sentence was enforced in. Among other things, it records criminal court convictions and certain decisions of administrative authorities and courts.
Deletion periods in detail (§ 46 BZRG)
§ 46 para. 1 BZRG distinguishes several periods of five, ten, fifteen and twenty years, each graded by type of sentence, length of sentence and in part group of offence; for "all other cases" a catch-all period of fifteen years applies. Certain sexual offences (including §§ 174 to 180, 182 StGB) with a prison or youth sentence of more than one year are deleted only after twenty years. Life sentences and preventive detention are not deleted at all. Since the exact classification of individual sub-cases is error-prone in practice, only a simplified overview is deliberately given here instead of a complete paragraph-by-paragraph list.
Start of the period (§ 47 BZRG)
The deletion period generally starts on the day of the first judgment. Where there are several convictions in the register, these are as a rule deleted together only once the period for the most serious entry has expired.
Prohibition on use and duty of disclosure (§§ 51, 53 BZRG)
After deletion or once an entry is ripe for deletion, the offence may in principle no longer be held against the person concerned and no longer be used to their disadvantage; as a rule, they may also describe themselves as having "no criminal record" and need not disclose the conviction, even if expressly asked.
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