Anyone who commits traffic offenses abroad may suffer disadvantages in Germany. This is because the authorities mutually exchange criminal judgments against their nationals. In Germany, these are then entered in the Federal Central Criminal Registerin Bonn. The person concerned can request information, and courts and law enforcement authorities can also inspect the register. This can be disadvantageous for the person concerned.
Whether you are a long-distance truck driver or on vacation: if you are convicted abroad, you may still feel the consequences years later. A professional truck driver was caught off guard. He was informed that an incident that allegedly occurred in France almost four years ago was to be entered in the Federal Central Register. To clarify: this has nothing to do with the central index of traffic offenders and the points in Flensburg.
The driver had been fined in France for violating road transport regulations. The Federal Office of Justice believes that there is a legal basis for this. It takes the view that this behavior is to be classified as a punishable document offense in Germany. The person concerned argued against this, saying that the offense in Germany would be a violation of the law on driving personnel and would thus be a misdemeanor. However, only criminal offenses and not misdemeanors can be entered in the Federal Central Register.
The prerequisite for entry is that the proceedings for the conviction abroad have been concluded and the decision can no longer be appealed. The registry office is generally not authorized to verify the accuracy of the reported decision. This is only possible in individual cases if the conviction contested by the person concerned as being incorrect is obviously flawed.
The inclusion of foreign convictions that contradict the internationally binding minimum standard of elementary procedural fairness or violate indispensable constitutional principles is excluded.
No review. A further requirement for the entry of a foreign criminal conviction is that the underlying facts are punishable in Germany by a penalty or a security measure. The Federal Office of Justice must therefore review the dual criminality.
This is because legal traditions and systems have developed over centuries and differ considerably. Every criminal code of a nation state has its peculiarities. Apart from the core criminal law (murder, robbery, theft), i.e. offenses that are punished everywhere and at all times, each culture classifies different actions or omissions as reprehensible. It also often varies from country to country whether the violation is placed in the penal code, administrative offense law or administrative law.
Irrespective of whether a sentence has been carried out, sentences handed down abroad may also be entered in the Federal Central Register. This is stated in Section 54 of the Federal Central Register Act (BZRG). This means that they have the same legal effect as domestic criminal judgments.
A decision by a foreign court is not even necessary for entries to be made in the Federal Central Register. A conviction by a competent authority that exercises penal power is sufficient.
If the person convicted abroad has not committed any crime worthy of criminal punishment according to German standards, no German public interests are affected. This means that there is no reason for the registration authority to enter anything in the register.
Anyone who commits a speeding violation in Switzerland or Austria and receives a penalty order or has to pay a fine has nothing to fear. Such decisions are comparable only to administrative offenses that are not recorded in the Federal Central Criminal Register.
The person concerned can raise objections and file a petition for removal. If the removal is rejected, the person concerned can file an appeal and have the appeal decision reviewed in court. Tip: A defendant should submit to the foreign proceedings if they are suspected of an offense and raise their objections in good time. Uncontestable decisions should be avoided. This can also help to avoid an entry in the Federal Central Register.
The statements represent initial information that was current for the law applicable in Germany at the time of initial publication. The legal situation may have changed since then. Furthermore, the information provided cannot replace individual advice on a specific matter. Please contact us for this purpose.