A Certificate of Good Conduct – What It Shows and How to Obtain It

A criminal information certificate, sometimes called a certificate of good conduct, is intended to present information to foreign authorities and is forwarded through police and consular channels to the requested destination. According to the Israel Police service, it may include convictions whose limitation period has not expired and cases awaiting adjudication. Separately from requesting the certificate, a person may inspect their own criminal and police information before applying to check the record and consider whether a correction or other appropriate procedure is needed.

Who may request information

The law specifies which bodies may receive information from the register and to what extent. A private employer may not require you to disclose information it is not entitled to receive, and such a request is not necessarily lawful.

Planning ahead prevents crises

Many people discover the problem a week before an interview or flight. Procedures for changing records take time, so it is advisable to check in advance.

How does the criminal record registry work?

The Criminal Information and Rehabilitation of Offenders Law regulates the criminal record registry and the police registry. Alongside convictions, certain decisions without a conviction may also be recorded. The limitation and deletion periods are determined according to the type of record and the data listed by law, and they reduce the bodies authorized to receive the information and the use of it. Legal deletion is not necessarily the physical destruction of all information, and not all records are subject to the same periods.

Why is this so important?

A criminal record may affect acceptance for a position, a license, an immigration proceeding, or another decision, but it does not create an automatic disqualification in every field. The effect depends on the type of record, the timing, the connection to the position, and the provisions that apply to the deciding body. Information about closed cases is also accessible only to bodies authorized to do so by law. For this reason, it is advisable to check what information may be disclosed and what the options are for correcting the record or reducing its consequences.

The routes for shortening and deletion

A clemency application to the President of the State: the President is authorized to shorten limitation and deletion periods and even erase convictions, through a reasoned application supported by evidence of rehabilitation, employment, and personal circumstances. Cancellation of a police record: an application to the police to delete closed cases, according to the ground for closure, the severity of the offense, and the time that has passed. Changing the ground for closure to lack of guilt: completely erases the record. Each route has its own rules, timeframes, and manner of drafting, and an application that has been rejected makes a subsequent one more difficult.

Legal representation

Israel Arama, formerly of the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office, handles applications for deletion, clemency, and cancellation of records, including gathering the evidentiary foundation that supports the application. It is important to prepare a well-founded application; a rejection does not always preclude another application. In a clemency application, according to the guidelines of the President's Residence, it is possible to apply again after six months or following a significant change in circumstances. Contact us for an initial consultation with no obligation.