According to a press release from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization (MCID), the institution in question and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) have operationalized the pilot project regarding the issuance of criminal record certificates in the electronic system. Thus, starting from February 1, the pilot version of the application allows the issuance of criminal record certificates for natural persons, of Romanian citizenship, who are not registered in the records of the National Romanian Criminal Record Evidence System – ROCRIS. We emphasize the fact that, according to MCID, citizens have two access mechanisms for obtaining the record certificate: directly by logging into the portal hub.mai.gov.ro or by accessing GHISEUL.ro, the two platforms being interconnected. The representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the pilot project will be extended, the application for the electronic issuance of the criminal record certificate will be available both for natural persons who have entries in the record, as well as for legal entities from Romania, until the end of the month July 2023.
According to Law no. 3/ 03.01.2023, to complete article 28 of Law no. 290/2004, regarding the criminal record, at the request of natural or legal persons, the criminal record certificate is issued free of charge and in electronic form. Criminal record certificates issued in electronic form are signed with a qualified electronic signature and are assimilated to authentic documents. As I stated above, the ways to obtain the electronic criminal record certificate are as follows:
– through the www.ghiseul.ro platform, for users who are registered or want to register in the platform. The record request is made following the electronic identity validation procedure using a 3D Secure enrolled bank card, issued by a Romanian banking institution. After validation, they will be redirected to the HUB.MAI.GOV.RO platform, for completing the standard application online;
– through the HUB.MAI.GOV.RO platform, for users who are not registered in GHISEUL.RO or do not have a bank card issued by a banking institution in Romania. Applicants will fill out a form available on the platform, and in order to establish their identity with certainty, they will present themselves physically, only once, at an MAI counter that offers public services.
In the first phase, the identity certification will be carried out by presenting to the police units that issue records certificates, following that during this year the identity certification can be done at all MAI institutions that offer public services.
After validating the account, in order to issue the criminal record certificate, citizens will access the “services” section, select the reason for the request from an available list, send the pre-filled application already with the civil status data, and the system will automatically generate the criminal record certificate, signed electronic.
The validity of the issued certificate is 6 months from the date of issue. The system offers the possibility to verify the authenticity of the document, based on the registration number of the registry certificate and the person’s CNP.