An extract from the criminal record (or police record) is a document containing details from the national criminal record register which is used to check a person's criminal background (a natural or legal person). The criminal record shows if a person has been convicted in the past or not.

This document enables the person requesting the extract to provide sufficient proof of integrity, for example in order to obtain an authorisation to work in certain professions or to perform certain contracts.

The criminal record register contains the sentences pronounced by the Luxembourg criminal jurisdictions and may also contain sentences pronounced abroad.

According to the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), and for the purposes of centralisation, the sentences pronounced in an EU Member State are automatically notified to the Member State of which the person is a national.

The extract from the criminal record of a natural person can be requested:

• either remotely (via internet, e-mail, post or fax);
• or in person, at the Criminal Records Department (Service du casier judiciaire) in Luxembourg city.

The Criminal Records Department issues extracts from the criminal record free of charge to natural persons and legal persons who so request. It will also issue extracts from the criminal record to certain administrations authorised by Grand-Ducal regulation, but which must nevertheless obtain the concerned person's prior approval.

Extracts from the criminal record (extrait du casier judiciaire) are issued in French.

Who is concerned

Any natural person over 18 years of age who is a Luxembourg national or resides in Luxembourg can request an extract from their criminal record.

This document may be required to carry out certain administrative procedures, such as:

• applying for a business permit to gain access to certain professions;
• gaining access to professions in the healthcare sector;
• responding to an employer's request during the process of recruitment or management of personnel, e.g. when someone is hired:
  • to carry out professional or voluntary activities involving regular contact with minors, which requires the presentation of a specific extract "Protection of minors" (Protection des mineurs);
  • for certain professional sectors of activity (private sector, private security, cash transportation, etc.);
• in response to a public procurement contract (extract from the criminal record of the legal person if it concerns a company, or of the natural person in the case of a sole trader), etc.

Residents with a foreign nationality can also obtain an extract of the criminal record, even if they have not been living in Luxembourg for very long, provided they can justify their stay in Luxembourg (by presenting their residence permit or certificate of registration).

In accordance with the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), the different sentences pronounced in EU Member States are centralised in the criminal record register in the Member State of which the person is a national.

For Luxembourg residents who are not Luxembourg nationals, the Luxembourg criminal record register only contains the sentences pronounced by Luxembourg jurisdictions.

In order to obtain an extract with the full criminal record of a natural person who is a national from a country other than Luxembourg, it is necessary to contact the competent authority in that other country.

Costs

The extracts from the criminal record are issued upon request and free of charge to the natural or legal person concerned.

How to proceed

Extract from the criminal record of a natural person

Available types of criminal records of a natural person

Natural persons can request records no. 3,4 or 5.

If the extract from the criminal record is intended to serve as proof of a person's integrity before they are assigned to activities involving regular contact with minors, the applicant must request record no. 5, which relates to the "protection of minors" (Protection des mineurs).

For all other requests, applicants may apply for record no. 3 (the "standard" criminal record), or for record no. 4 (which also lists, among other things, all sentences involving a driving ban).

Online application

Applicants may submit a request for an extract from the criminal record of a natural person online after having identified themselves on MyGuichet.lu with a LuxTrust product or an electronic identity card:

• with no need for supporting documents if the applicant is the person concerned;

• accompanied by a scanned copy of the concerned person's identity card along with a power of attorney if the applicant is a third party.

The applicant must specify which record is required and check the corresponding box.

The application is then forwarded to the Criminal Records Department.

Application by e-mail, fax or post

Applicants may file a request for an extract from the criminal record for natural persons (on ordinary paper or using the available form) by e-mail, fax or post. Requests are to be submitted to the Criminal Records Department accompanied by legible copies of the applicant's:

• identity card; or
  
• passport; or
  
• residence permit.

The applicant must specify the number of extracts they require.

Application in person at the Criminal Records Department

Individuals may apply for an extract from their criminal record by going, in person, to the Criminal Records Department, where they will need to show their:

• identity card; or
  
• passport; or
  
• residence permit.

They will also need to specify how many extracts they require.

Requesting an extract through a third party

A third party may also apply for an extract from the criminal record on behalf of another natural person by going to the Criminal Records Department and presenting a power of attorney and a legible copy of an identity document of the person on whose behalf the application is being made.

The applicant must specify the number of extracts they need.

The extract from the criminal record will in this case be sent to the concerned person's address directly.

It is also possible to provide a third party with a written power of attorney that specifically allows the third party to collect the extract at the Criminal Records Department on the applicant's behalf.

The person collecting the extract from the criminal record at the Criminal Records Department must provide proof of their identity by presenting:

• their identity card; or
• their passport; or
• their residence permit.

Sentences listed in the criminal record

The criminal record register contains the sentences pronounced by the Luxembourg criminal jurisdictions and may also contain sentences pronounced abroad. In accordance with the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS), and for the purpose of centralisation, the sentences pronounced in an EU Member State are automatically notified to the Member State of which the person is a national.

The Luxembourg criminal record register is kept by the public prosecutor's office, in the form of an electronic file, under the responsibility of the State Public Prosecutor.

A criminal record contains, in particular:

• irrevocable sentences for correctional or criminal offences handed down in Luxembourg;
• irrevocable sentences for summary offences (peine de police), other than parking offences.

Irrevocable sentences for correctional or criminal offences handed down by foreign jurisdictions are recorded in the criminal record register, provided that:

• the person convicted is a Luxembourg national;
• the sentence is notified pursuant to an international convention;
• the punishable act is deemed to be a correctional or criminal offence under Luxembourg law.

If a convicted person is rehabilitated (réhabilitation), the relevant entry is deleted from the criminal record within 5 to 20 years (depending on the length of the sentence). Rehabilitation puts an end to all incapacities and forfeitures that resulted from said conviction until then.

Rehabilitation is then established as of right, or granted by the Council Chamber of the Court of Appeal upon request .

Sentences handed down by foreign courts are deleted from the Luxembourg criminal record register if the country of prosecution provides notification of the deletion of the convictions from the criminal record, or of rehabilitation.

Content of the different criminal records issued

The Criminal Records Department issues the following records.

Record no. 1

Content of record no. 1

Record no. 1 in the criminal record register of a natural person shows all the sentences handed down in respect of said natural person.

Issuing record no. 1

Record no. 1 of a natural person is issued to the judicial authorities within the framework of a criminal procedure.

It will also be issued to the lawyer assisting or representing the natural person concerned as a defendant before a court, or, in the absence of a lawyer, to the natural person concerned. In this case, the criminal record is not issued by the Criminal Records Department, but by the secretariat of the jurisdiction concerned.

Record no. 2

Content of record no. 2

Record no. 2 in the criminal record register of a natural person shows all the correctional or criminal sentences or detention orders in relation to a criminal procedure against said person.

Issuing record no. 2

Record no. 2 is issued upon request to state and communal administrations and to public legal persons, presented, within the framework of their statutory tasks, with an application from the natural person concerned, provided said natural person has given their written consent on paper or by electronic means for the record to be issued.

Record no. 3

Content of record no. 3

Record no. 3 in the criminal record register of a natural person shows all the correctional or criminal sentences handed down in respect of said person with the exception of:

• suspended prison sentences of 24 months or less;
• fines of EUR 2,500.00 or less;
• multiple fines whose combined total amount does not exceed EUR 2,500.00;
• community work sentences.

Issuing record no. 3

Record no. 3 is issued upon request to the natural person concerned or to a third party with a power of attorney and a copy of the valid identity document of the natural person concerned.

Record no. 3 is issued upon request to state and communal administrations and to public legal persons, presented, within the framework of their statutory tasks, with an application from the natural person concerned, provided said natural person has given their written consent on paper or by electronic means for the record to be issued.

Record no. 4

Content of record no. 4

Record no. 4 provides information about the sentences on record no. 3 as well as all sentences concerning driving prohibitions. The latter sentences will be removed from record no. 4 after a 3-year deadline from the end of the driving prohibition period.

Issuing record no. 4

Record no. 4 is issued upon request to the natural person concerned, or to a third party with a power of attorney and a copy of the valid identity document of the natural person concerned.

Record no. 4 can be issued to the Ministry in charge of transport for the purpose of investigating applications in matters of transport (namely the issue of driving licences and licences for road and rail transport, the management of a taxi company or air navigation services). In this case however, the person concerned must have given their prior consent by written or electronic means.

Record no. 5

Content of record no. 5

Record no. 5 contains:

• the complete statement of convictions for acts against underage children or involving underage children as long as said act formed an elemental part of the conviction or was considered an aggravating factor at sentencing; and
• all sentences imposing a ban on activities involving regular contact with minors.

Issuing record no. 5

Record no. 5 is intended for (natural and legal) persons who are looking to hire a natural person for activities on a professional or voluntary basis which involve regular contact with minors, in order to verify if the job candidate has not been sentenced for acts committed against a minor. The job candidate must present record no. 5 to the potential employer.

Record no. 5 is issued upon request to the natural person concerned or to a third party with a power of attorney and a copy of the valid identity document of the natural person concerned.

Record no. 5 is issued to communal administrations to assess job applications for teaching positions or positions in a children's day care centre managed by the commune. In this case however, the person concerned must have given their consent by written or electronic means for the record to be issued to the communal administration directly.

Issuing criminal records to a foreign authority

Extracts from the criminal record can be issued, under certain conditions, to the competent authorities in EU Member States or to the competent authorities in third countries within the framework of international conventions.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact