COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Below is our English translation of the rules titled the Provisions on the Handling of Criminal Record Checks by Public Security Organs of Zhejiang Province (in Chinese, 《浙江省公安机关办理犯罪记录查询工作规定》), effective January 1, 2022, The original Chinese text is available at the official website of Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department at http://gat.zj.gov.cn/art/2021/12/1/art_1229098253_2377613.html.
This English translation is produced by ZhaoZhao Consulting and is protected under copyright laws. You may use, share or publicly display (e.g. on a website) the translation only if you acknowledge our website as the source of the translation.
Notice of Zhejiang Public Security Department on Printing and Distributing the Provisions on the Handling of Criminal Record Checks by Public Security Organs of Zhejiang Province
To public security bureaus of all cities and counties (cities, districts)：
In order to meet the needs of social development and further standardize the work of the public security organs of our province in handling criminal record checks, the provincial department has formulated the Provisions on the Handling of Criminal Record Checks by Public Security Organs of Zhejiang Province, which are hereby printed and distributed to you. Please implement them conscientiously. If you encounter any problems at work, please report to Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department in time.
Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department
November 18, 2021
Provisions on the Handling of Criminal Record Checks by Public Security Organs of Zhejiang Province
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 In order to further standardize the work of the public security organs of our province in handling criminal record checks and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the people, in accordance with the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Public Security, the Notice of National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, etc. on Printing and Distributing the Opinions on Improving and Standardizing the Issuance of Certificates by Public Security Police Stations (Gong Tong Zi [2016〕No.21) and other regulations, we have formulated these Provisions while taking into consideration the actualities of our province.
Article 2 The term “criminal records” as used in these Provisions refers to the objective records of criminal persons by our country’s special state organs. Except those whose crimes have been confirmed by effective judgment documents issued by people’s courts, all persons shall be deemed innocent of any crime and no criminal record shall be made towards them.
If the person concerned is suspected of committing a crime, but the people’s court has not yet made an effective judgment or ruling, or the people’s procuratorate has made a decision not to prosecute, or the case handling work unit withdraws the case, withdraws the prosecution, or terminates the investigation, the person belongs to persons having no criminal record.
Information on measures such as criminal summonses, detention summonses, bail pending trial, residential surveillance, criminal detention, and arrest, as well as procedural information such as filing cases, investigations, and prosecutions recorded in handling criminal cases, are not criminal record information.
Article 3 Criminal record checks need to follow the principle of“applying in accordance with the law, handling in accordance with regulations, and providing convenience to the people”.
Article 4 Public security administration departments are the departments in charge of checking criminal records and issuing certificates and are responsible for guiding and supervising public security police stations to carry out the checking and the issuance of certificates in accordance with the law as well as receiving bulk applications submitted by relevant work units in accordance with the law and solving issues encountered in the work with coordination. Other departments should cooperate.
The legal department is responsible for the review of the issuance of certificates.
Chapter II Application and Acceptance
Article 5 Public security police stations are responsible for accepting applications for criminal record checks submitted by individuals or working units. Where conditions make it possible, service windows may be set up in government or department service halls to centralize the acceptance and handling.
County-level public security organs can use the government service network, Alipay, “Zheliban” APP etc. for online acceptance for applications, identity verification, appointments for pickup, ordering delivery, etc.
Article 6 An individual who needs to have no corresponding criminal record as a prerequisite for engaging in a specific occupation, holding a special position, or going abroad for settlement, and any other legitimate purposes, may apply for a certificate of no criminal record with the police station in the place of his household registration or the place of his habitual residence.
Article 7 If a state organ, enterprise or public institution has any of the following circumstances in work, it may apply to the local police station or the public security organ at the same level to apply for checking a citizen’s criminal record:
(1) In accordance with the provisions of the law and administrative regulations on the qualifications for school admission, admission to higher education, and employment, it is necessary to check the criminal records of the working unit’s current employees or the persons whom it intends to recruit;
(2) For recommending the nomination and election of deputies to people’s congresses or members of the CPPCC, and rural (community) committees, it is necessary to check if candidates have any criminal records;
(3) For evaluation and commendation activities approved by the group of leaders in charge of the commendation for meritorious and honorable deeds at or above the provincial level, no criminal record is one requirement for recommendation and selection.
Article 8 These Provisions do not apply to the following checks:
(1) Supervisory commissions, courts, procuratorates, public security organs, judicial administration organs, state security organs etc. need to check criminal records for purposes of handling cases;
(2) The discipline inspection and supervision departments of the Party and government organs check criminal records of their staff with public security organs;
(3) For active duty enlistment of citizens, it is necessary to check criminal records for political assessment.
Article 9 Where a citizen applies for checking his own criminal record for issuance of a certificate of no criminal record, he shall provide a valid identity document, explain the reason for the check, and fill in a Certificate of No Criminal Record Application Form. After receiving an application, the public security organ shall handle it according to the following requirements:
(1) Where the applicant’s household is registered in Zhejiang Province, it shall be handled by the police station in the place of his household registration or the place of his habitual residence;
(2) Where the applicant is a transient resident whose household is not registered in Zhejiang Province and who has resided in a city of Zhejiang Province for six months, it may be handled by the police station in the place of his residence; if the conditions for issuing the certificate are not in place, the applicant shall be notified in writing to apply to the public security organ in the place of his household registration;
(3) Where the applicant is a resident of Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, or a foreigner who has stayed or resided in our country for a cumulative period of more than 180 days or who has been approved for permanent residence in China, it shall be accepted and handled by the exit and entry administration of public security organs at or above the county level; if necessary for work, the entry-exit administration may also designate the police station in the place of the applicant’s residence to receive the application.
The valid identity document stipulated in the preceding paragraph includes a Chinese citizen’s resident identity card, household register, military officer ID, residence card for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, mainland travel permit for Hong Kong and Macao residents, mainland travel permit for Taiwan residents, the international travel document of a Chinese citizen who settles abroad, the foreign permanent resident ID card or the passport of a foreigner, etc.
Article 10 If another person is appointed to apply for the check, the following materials must be submitted: a No Criminal Record Application Form, the principal’s valid proof of identity, a power of attorney signed by the principal, and the appointed person’s valid proof of identity. The appointed person shall be 18 years of age or older.
If a person who is not a close relative is appointed to handle the application, the following materials need to be provided: a notarial power of attorney issued by a notary department and the original valid proof of identity of the principal and the appointed person.
Article 11 Where a work unit applies for checking an individual’s criminal records, the following materials and information shall be provided: an official letter issued by the work unit, the work ID of the handling person, the name of the check subject, and the purpose and basis of the check.
If the check subject is a foreigner, in addition to the materials in the preceding paragraph, a recent photo of the check subject must be submitted together; if notarization is required according to the law, additional materials related to the notarization must be provided.
If a work unit applies for the check only with an official letter by post, it will not be accepted.
Article 12 If the application materials are complete and the purpose of the check meets the requirements, it shall be accepted; if the application materials are incomplete, the materials that need to be supplemented or corrected shall be notified on a single occasion; if the supplemented or corrected application materials are still incomplete, or the basis for the check application is insufficient, it shall not be accepted and the reasons shall be stated in writing.
Chapter III Checking and Issuance of Certificates
Article 13 After a public security police station accepts the application, it shall check the applicant’s criminal record in the criminal record information system or paper files according to the application. When necessary for the issuance of the certificate, relevant judicial and administrative organs may be visited for verification and investigation.
If criminal records are found in the criminal record information system or paper files, screenshots of the check result page or the paper files shall be printed or copied and kept on file.
Article 14 After checking by the public security police station or the exit and entry administration, the following procedures shall be done with the approval of the person in charge of the department or work unit：
(1) Individual application for the check. If no criminal record related to the purpose of the check is found, a Certificate of No Criminal Record shall be issued;
If it is found that the person has criminal records related to the purpose of the check, the person is under investigation or compulsory measures are imposed upon the person, a Notice of Refusal to Issue Certificate of No Criminal Record shall be issued and the relevant records shall be attached. If the person has any objections, he shall apply for a review within three days. The handling department shall complete the review within five days after receiving the review application, and informs the applicant of the result;
(2) Work unit application for the check. A notification letter of the check result shall be issued, indicating the criminal record related to the purpose of the check, or indicating that there is no criminal record related to the purpose of the check; if the person is under investigation or compulsory measures are imposed upon the person, it must indicate the suspected crime, the stage of the case and the case-handling work unit, and the content of the case shall not be provided.
If the check result involves sealed criminal records of minors, a notification letter or certificate of no criminal record shall be issued, except where the work unit conducts the check according to relevant state regulations.
The notification letter issued should indicate that “the criminal record information is from the public security information checking platform”.
Article 15 The Certificate of No Criminal Record and the check notification letter shall indicate the purpose of the check, the start and end time of the check, and the date of issuance, and shall be stamped with the chop of the public security police station or the exit and entry administration.
Article 16 The public security police station shall conduct the check based on the purpose of the check application. If it is possible to handle it on the spot, it shall handle it on the spot; if it is not possible to handle it on the spot, it shall issue an Acceptance Notice for Certificate of No Criminal Record Application to the individual applicant or the work unit applicant.
For work unit checks, the work unit shall be notified of the check result in writing within seven days after acceptance; for individual checks, the applicant shall be notified of the check result within three days after acceptance. If it cannot be issued within the prescribed time limit due to special circumstances such as investigation and verification, the time limit may be extended for seven days with the approval of the person in charge of the department, and the applicant shall be given the reasons at the same time. If verification with other judicial organs is required, the verification time shall not be counted within the above-mentioned time limit.
If the public security organ which has accepted the application initiates an out-of-area joint investigation in Zhejiang Province due to the need for investigation and verification, the work units of joint investigation shall provide the verification results within three days.
Chapter IV Filing and Accountability
Article 17 The materials related to the application such as the check application form, relevant proof of identification of the applicant and handling person, the power of attorney, the official letter as well as the check certification documents and the related materials collected during the check process, shall be archived for reference by taking pictures, scanning, etc., and the records shall be kept for at least two years.
Article 18 The public security organs and their people’s police shall strictly follow these Provisions and carry out rigorous and efficient work of checking criminal records and issuing certificates. The information and materials known in the work shall be kept strictly confidential and shall not be disclosed.
If failure to conduct checks in accordance with regulations leads to circumstances where the contents of the certificates are inaccurate, the personal information is leaked, and certificates are issued in violation of regulations etc., the relevant work units and individuals shall be held accountable in accordance with relevant regulations; if the check system fails, the recorded information is incomplete, or it is practically difficult to check and verify, the responsible persons shall be exempted from liability for fault tolerance in accordance with the regulations.
Chapter V Supplementary Provisions
Article 19 If laws, regulations, rules and administrative normative documents stipulate that citizens and legal persons need to provide certificates of no records with respect to specific illegal acts or types of penalties, the relevant checks and issuance of certificates shall be handled with reference to these Provisions.
Article 20 As referred to in these Provisions“three days” “five days” and “seven days”, mean working days, excluding holidays.
Article 21 These Provisions shall be interpreted by the Legal Affairs Corps of the Zhejiang Provincial Public Security Department.
Article 22 These Provisions are effective January 1, 2022. The Provisions on the Issuance of Certificates of Illegal and Criminal Records by Public Security Organs of Zhejiang Province (for Trial Implementation) effective March 1, 2015, is abolished at the same time.