Extracts from the criminal records for working with children

The employer or certain authorities must demand an extract from the criminal record of a person whose duties essentially and permanently include working with children.

The law obliges employers to check the criminal record of employees whose employment or service relationship lasts for over 3 months in a single calendar year. The employer also has the right to request an extract for duties lasting less than 3 months. The employee’s extract is intended for presentation to a Finnish employer or licensing authority.

The extract can be issued for work in an employment or service relationship, which essentially includes the education, teaching, treatment or other care of minors or other personal interaction with a minor without the presence of their custodian.

An extract may also be required for non-military service or a work trial, as well as from a family carer, healthcare and social welfare service provider, and a provider of morning and afternoon activities for schoolchildren.

The client of a contract for purchased services does not have the right to check criminal records. The criminal background of a provider of a contract for purchased services may only be checked in connection with the licensing or notification procedure. In such cases, the check is carried out by the Regional State Administrative Agency or National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira).

Order the extract electronically or with the application form

Order the extract from your criminal record for work through LRC’s electronic service. The electronic service requires strong authentication using either Finnish means of identification or eIDAS authentication.

If you are unable to use the electronic service, use LRC’s application form (PDF) . Complete the application carefully and send it to us by one of the following methods:

• Through the Suomi.fi/messages service (Legal Register Centre > Register services).
• By email to rikosrekisteri@om.fi. We recommend the Ministry of Justice’s secure messaging service. Enter your email address into the service and register it. You will then be sent an email link that will take your message securely to its recipient.
• By post to Legal Register Centre/ Criminal records, PO BOX 157, 13101 Hämeenlinna, Finland.

You cannot order the extract by telephone.

You can also send a free-form written application to the LRC. Such applications must contain all of the information requested on LRC’s above-mentioned application form.

Note! If you need an extract from your criminal record for presentation abroad, this extract is not valid. You will need an extract for presentation abroad.

Processing of the application and the finished extract

The price of the extract is 6 euros in the electronic service and 12 euros if ordered through another channel. You will be asked to pay for the extract immediately in the electronic service. An invoice will be sent for applications sent by post or email.

The processing time of an application is 7 business days, and applications are processed in order of arrival. The processing time does not include delivery time by post. If you are the citizen of another EU Member State, we will also request your criminal records from that Member State. The Member State has 20 business days to respond to our request, which may postpone the issuing of the extract.

When your extract is ready, you can view and print it in LRC’s electronic service. The extract will also be delivered to your Suomi.fi Messages or by post to the address you have provided.

The extract is valid for 6 months. During this time, you can present the same extract for working with children to other parties than those mentioned in the application, such as organisers of volunteer activities.

Note! If you are working with the elderly, you will need a separate extract for working with the elderly.

Student: how to order an extract from your criminal record

An educational institution is required to ask students to submit an extract from their criminal record if practical training related to their studies essentially includes working with children. The student’s extract is intended for presentation to the educational institution.

An extract can be issued for a work placement in education leading to a degree, which essentially include the education, teaching, treatment, or other care of a minor or other work in personal interaction with a minor.

Order the extract electronically or with the application form

Order the extract from your criminal record for practical training through LRC’s electronic service. The electronic service requires strong authentication using either Finnish means of identification or eIDAS authentication. The extract is free of charge.

If you are unable to use the electronic service, use LRC’s application form (PDF) . Complete the application carefully and send it to us by one of the following methods:

• Through the Suomi.fi/messages service (Legal Register Centre > Register services).
• By email to rikosrekisteri@om.fi. We recommend the Ministry of Justice’s secure messaging service. Enter your email address into the service and register it. You will then be sent an email link that will take your message securely to its recipient.
• By post to Legal Register Centre/ Criminal records, PO BOX 157, 13101 Hämeenlinna, Finland.

You cannot order the extract by telephone.

You can also send a free-form written application to the LRC. Such applications must contain all of the information requested on LRC’s above-mentioned application form.

Processing of the application and the finished extract

The processing time of an application is 7 business days, and applications are processed in order of arrival. The processing time does not include delivery time by post. If you are the citizen of another EU Member State, we will also request your criminal records from that Member State. The Member State has 20 business days to respond to our request, which may postpone the issuing of the extract.

When your extract is ready, you can view and print it in LRC’s electronic service. The extract will also be delivered to your Suomi.fi Messages or by post to the address you have provided.

The extract is valid for 6 months. During this time, you can present the same extract for working with children to other parties than those mentioned in the application if necessary, such as organisers of volunteer activities.

Organisations that organise volunteer activities have a statutory right to check the criminal backgrounds of their volunteers.

The criminal background can be checked if the volunteer’s duties essentially and permanently include teaching, counselling, treatment or care of minors or personal interaction with a minor. The duties must also be carried out alone or in circumstances in which the minor’s personal integrity cannot reasonably be guaranteed.

A volunteer’s criminal background is checked by ordering an extract from their criminal record.

Ordering extracts requires guidelines for the activity

If your organisation is ordering extracts from the criminal records for the first time, you must draw up guidelines for the activities. The guideline describes how the personal integrity of minors is protected during the activity. The guideline must be enclosed with your first application. If you have updated the guideline, you must include the updated guidelines with your next application. You can make use of the SOSTE Finnish Federation for Social Affairs and Health’s guideline (in Finnish) .

You must also determine which volunteer duties require checking the volunteer’s criminal background. When you are looking for volunteers for these duties, you must inform applicants that their criminal records will be checked.

Ordering an extract requires the volunteer’s consent

You can request extracts of the criminal records of several volunteers with a single application. Enclose the written consent of every volunteer included in your application.

Consent is given in the form of a power of attorney. You can use the LRC’s form (PDF) for the power of attorney. The declaration of content must be signed and it must specify that consent is being given for ordering the extract from the criminal records required for volunteer activities.

Attach the signed declarations of consent to the extract application in PDF format.

All documents and enclosures related to the application must be included in the same submission. Incomplete applications will delay processing.

Order the extract electronically or by post

If you are the volunteer activity organiser’s representative entered in the Register of Associations, you can order the extract from the LRC’s electronic service.

If that is not the case, you will first need to obtain a Suomi.fi e-Authorization for ordering the extract from the criminal records. When you have obtained the authorisation, you can log into our electronic service to file the application.

If your organisation does not have Suomi.fi credentials, use the LRC’s application form (PDF) . Complete the application carefully and send it to us by one of the following methods:

• Through the Suomi.fi/messages service (Legal Register Centre > Register services).
• By email to rikosrekisteri@om.fi. We recommend the Ministry of Justice’s secure messaging service. Enter your email address into the service and register it. You will then be sent an email link that will take your message securely to its recipient.
• By post to Legal Register Centre/ Criminal records, PO BOX 157, 13101 Hämeenlinna, Finland.

Delivery of the extract

The price of the extract is 6 euros in the electronic service and 12 euros if ordered through another channel. You will be asked to pay for the extract immediately in the electronic service. An invoice will be sent for applications sent by post or email.

The processing time of an application is 7 business days, and applications are processed in order of arrival. The processing time does not include delivery time by post. If you are the citizen of another EU Member State, we will also request your criminal records from that Member State. The Member State has 20 business days to respond to our request, which may postpone the issuing of the extract.

When the extract is ready, it will be delivered to your organisation’s postal address. The person on whom the extract was ordered is able to view and print the extract in the LRC’s electronic service as well.

Extract processing: read these instructions carefully!

The law provides precise instructions for processing the extracts ordered on volunteers. The party checking the extract

• may not make copies of the extract; and
• may not store other information from the extract than the date of issue and the identity of the person whose extract was checked.

When the extract has been checked, it must be immediately returned to the volunteer in question.

The person checking the extract from the criminal records is under a non-disclosure obligation concerning the information in the extract from the criminal records. This non-disclosure obligation does not end when the person who checked the extract moves to different duties. A breach of this non-disclosure obligation is punishable by law.

An entry in the extract does not automatically prevent choosing the person for the task. Rather, the organiser of the activities must evaluate whether they are suitable for the task.

Certain offences and convictions are listed on the extract from the criminal records. These have been deemed to be particularly significant if the person is involved with children.

Information on fines imposed for sex offences or for offences committed against children is also included on the extract. The extract will indicate if the person has been convicted of equivalent offences or been placed under a ban on working or interacting with minors in another EU Member State.

If the person has not been found guilty of the offences described here, the extract from their criminal record shows this as well. However, the extract from the criminal records for working with children does not show whether the employee has other offences in their criminal record.

The extract contains the information on final judgments by which the person has been convicted for one of the following offences:

Offences against children:

• Distribution of an image depicting a child in a sexual manner
• Aggravated distribution of an image depicting a child in a sexual manner
• Possession of an image depicting a child in a sexual manner
• Following a performance presenting a child in a sexual manner
• Sexual assault of a child
• Aggravated sexual assault of a child
• Rape of a child
• Aggravated rape of a child
• Sexual abuse of a child
• Offering payment for a sexual act on a young person
• Solicitation of a child for sexual purposes

Sex offences:

• Rape
• Aggravated rape
• Sexual assault
• Aggravated sexual assault
• Sexual abuse
• Sexual harassment
• Non-consensual dissemination of a sexual image
• Abuse of a person subject to sex trade
• Pandering
• Aggravated pandering
• Distribution of a sexually obscene picture

Violent offences:

• Manslaughter
• Murder
• Killing
• Aggravated assault
• Aggravated robbery

Offences against personal liberty:

• Trafficking in human beings
• Aggravated trafficking in human beings

Narcotics offences:

• Narcotics offence
• Aggravated narcotics offence
• Unlawful use of narcotics
• Preparation of a narcotics offence
• Abetting a narcotics offence
• Abetting an aggravated narcotics offence

If you have been sentenced to a joint punishment for several offences, one of which is included in the list above, all of the offences included in the joint punishment will be entered on the extract.