Criminal Records
How to Check Someone’s Criminal Record Internationally
Public criminal record databases exist in many countries—but access, language, and reliability vary widely. Here’s what you can realistically find.
Country‑specific resources
Where to search
- USA: PACER, state court portals, sex‑offender registries
- UK: UK Court Records, Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks
- Russia: GAS “Justice” court database
- Ukraine: Unified State Register of Court Decisions
- Interpol notices: publicly available Red Notice lists
Limitations
What won’t appear
Sealed or expunged records, non‑public arrests, and ongoing investigations are not accessible. Name‑only searches can also return false positives; a professional researcher knows how to verify matches with date‑of‑birth and address cross‑checks.
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AllRussian navigates multiple jurisdictions, language barriers, and outdated interfaces to deliver a simple, reliable report based solely on publicly available information.
How to Perform an International Criminal Record Check
- Identify all countries of residence. Compile a list of every country where the person has lived, worked, or studied for 6+ months. Criminal records are generally kept at the national or regional level.
- Search Interpol’s public database. Use Interpol’s “Wanted Persons” search (public access) to see if the individual appears in international red notices or diffusion bulletins.
- Check national court registries. For the US, use PACER (federal) and county dockets. For the UK, use the Judiciary’s public list. For Canada, search CanLII. For Australia, use AustLII.
- Use EU criminal record exchange (if applicable). If the subject is in the EU, legal entities can request an ECRIS (European Criminal Record Information System) check through a designated authority.
- Search sanctions and watchlists. Query OFAC (US), EU sanctions, UN Security Council consolidated list, and World Bank debarments. A match often indicates serious financial or corruption offenses.
- Verify via local police certificate requests. Many countries (e.g., Spain, Germany, Japan) allow a person to request their own police certificate; for third‑party checks, you need a signed authorization and a local intermediary.
- Hire an on‑the‑ground researcher. When public sources are insufficient, a local investigator can search physical archives, regional police records, and newspaper archives that are not digitized.