FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Anyone can submit queries to the Criminal Records Database regarding themselves or other persons via e-File. To do so, you must log in to e-File using your ID card, Mobile-ID, or Smart-ID. e-File issues the Criminal Records Database extract as a PDF or a digitally stamped (digitally signed) file. ID card software is required to open a digitally signed PDF file. A digitally signed extract from the Criminal Records Database is an official document.

• A person possessing the right of representation, as listed in the commercial register, can enter in the role of a legal person (i.e. the legal person view).
• A person can enter in the role of a legal person if a person who is authorised to represent the legal person has granted them the appropriate authorisation in the central authorisations management information system Pääsuke, located in the State Portal, or has appointed an authorisations manager who has the right to grant authorisations to other natural persons.

An instructional video on the legal role and authorisations in e-File has been produced on the same topic.

Switching roles in the e-File environment (natural person -> legal person): 

• The legal representative of the legal person or an authorised person must first log in to e-File as a natural person;
• In the top right-hand corner (next to the person’s name), click the ‘Change role’ button;
• From the tabs ‘Representative of a legal person or ‘Under an authorisation’ on the form that opens, you can then select the appropriate legal person and access the view for the desired legal person.

NB! It is not possible to grant an authorisation within the e-File environment itself. Persons with the right to represent a legal person can view and amend authorisations only in the central authorisations management information system Pääsuke.

More information on the features of Pääsuke are available on the RIA homepage. Please contact the Information System Authority (RIA) with any questions regarding the Pääsuke environment.

Free queries can only be made by persons authorised to perform free Criminal Records Database queries. Criminal Records Database queries on behalf of a legal person/institution may be carried out on the legal basis provided for by laws and in cases of exemption from fees under the Criminal Records Database Act.

As an authorised person in e-File, you can carry out all operations relating to the legal person in e-File, except for free queries of the Criminal Records Database.

To perform free queries: 

1. In order to be able to perform free queries in e-File on behalf of a legal person or institution, you must first grant the person an authorisation in the national Pääsuke information system: ‘Person authorised to perform free queries of the Criminal Records Database’.
2. Once authorisation has been granted, an email must be sent to Criminal Records Database user support at [email protected] to open the query.
3. Free queries of the Criminal Records Database can be carried out regarding natural and legal persons, and to verify compliance with restrictions on working with children (under § 20 of the Child Protection Act) and requirements established for security personnel (under § 15 of the Security Activities Act).
4. NB! If the representative of a legal person listed in the Commercial Database wishes to make free queries, they must also grant themselves authorisation in Pääsuke.

More detailed information on free queries of the Criminal Records Database can be found in the following video and on the page Exemption of institutions from payment of state fees.

Representatives of legal persons may view and amend authorisations only in the central authorisations management information system Pääsuke. Among other things, a person may revoke an authorisation granted by a legal person within the Pääsuke environment.

Further information on the central authorisations management information system Pääsuke is available on the RIA website. For any queries regarding the Pääsuke environment, please contact the Information System Authority (RIA).

e-File issues a digitally stamped extract from the Criminal Records Database. A digitally stamped extract from the Criminal Records Database is an official document that can be presented to a third party.

As an exception, e-File does not issue digitally stamped extracts regarding restrictions on working with children and the verification of requirements for security personnel; to obtain an official document regarding this query, you must complete an application and submit it directly to the Criminal Records Database.

If you are unable to use e-File, you must submit a signed application to the Criminal Records Database to obtain an extract from the Criminal Records Database. For more information on requesting an extract, please see Issuing a notice from database.

A digitally signed notice from database will be sent to the email address provided in the application within two (2) working days.

If you wish to receive the response to your query by unregistered letter, you must allow for the additional delivery time of AS Eesti Post (Omniva). Normally, the letter will arrive by post within a couple of days, but to be on the safe side, you should allow for a waiting period of up to two (2) weeks.

The Criminal Records Database only issues data in Estonian. To have a document translated and apostilled by a sworn translator, you will need a paper copy of the document signed by the Criminal Records Database. Please see Issuing a notice from database for further details.

Details of sworn translators. Information on apostilling documents.

An entry is made in the registry journal of the Criminal Records Database for every query, and anyone can submit a follow-up query to find out who has shown an interest in their data.
The most convenient way to submit a follow-up query is via the e-File environment, where you can do so without restriction and free of charge.

Data from the Criminal Records Database is displayed in e-File, but it is not possible to pay fines via this platform.
To pay fines, you must contact the authority that issued the fine or the bailiff handling the case. If you do not know who the relevant bailiff is, you must first contact the Estonian Chamber of Enforcement agents and Trustees in Bankruptcy to obtain information from the enforcement register, from where you will be directed to the specific bailiff.

If your fine has expired but there is no corresponding information in the Criminal Records Database, please contact the authority that imposed the fine or the bailiff who handled the case, as the Criminal Records Database does not update expiry data in the system itself.

A bailiff or extra-judicial body can apply the expiry of the fine and forward the relevant information to the Criminal Records Database. If you do not know who the bailiff is, you must first contact the Estonian Chamber of Enforcement agents and Trustees in Bankruptcy to obtain the data from the enforcement register, from where you will be directed to the specific bailiff.

The time limits for archiving information concerning punishments are regulated by § 24 of the Criminal Records Database Act, according to which the archiving period depends on the type of punishment imposed.

Information on punishments imposed for a misdemeanour are archived one (1) year after the sentence for the misdemeanour has been served (for example, the serving of detention or payment of a fine).

Information on punishments imposed for a criminal offence are entered into the archive depending on the punishment. If the person was of legal age at the time of committing the criminal offence, data are archived as follows:

1. two (2) years have passed since the termination of coercive psychiatric treatment;
2. two (2) years have passed since the termination of addiction treatment;
3. three (3) years have passed since the enforcement of a pecuniary punishment judgement imposed for a criminal offence;
4. three (3) years have passed since the end of the probationary period determined upon release on parole or conditional release from a pecuniary punishment;
5. three (3) years have passed since the performance of community service;
6. five (5) years have passed since an imprisonment of less than five years was served ;
7. 10 (ten) years have passed since an imprisonment of five to twenty years was served;
8. 15 (fifteen) years have passed since an imprisonment of more than 20 (twenty) years was served;
9. the limitation period for the execution of a judgment has expired pursuant to § 82 of the Penal Code;
10. the person has died;
11. the legal person is dissolved.

Details of sentences imposed for offences recorded in the archive shall remain visible in the archive for 50 (fifty) years, and details of sentences imposed for misdemeanours shall remain visible for 10 (ten) years. Thereafter, the data is deleted. The deletion period for data is calculated as of the date entry into the archive. For example, data on traffic fines are deleted 11 (eleven) years after the fine has been paid.

Further details on the archiving of information concerning punishments can be found in § 24 of the Criminal Records Database Act.

Foreign information concerning punishments are deleted in accordance with § 27 of the Criminal Records Database Act and in accordance with the time limits set out in subsection 24 (1). If you have any questions, please email the Criminal Records Database at [email protected].

Data entered in the Criminal Records Database is archived and deleted in accordance with the time limits set out in the Criminal Records Database Act. For more details, see the section ‘How long does it take for information concerning punishment to be deleted from the database?’ In some cases, the transfer of data to the archive depends on how quickly obligations are fulfilled. For example, the sooner a fine or pecuniary punishment is paid, the sooner the deadline for transferring the data to the archive will arrive.

One of the conditions for the issue of a provisional driving licence is that the person has not been punished for an offence under § 201, 223, 224, 226, subsections 227 (2)–(4), § 234, 236, or 237 of the Traffic Act, or has not been punished for a traffic offence set out in Chapter 23 of the Penal Code, or has not been repeatedly punished for offences set out in Chapter 15 of the Traffic Act, with the exception of the offences mentioned in clause 3. If you wish to find out whether you have any such punishments, please conduct a search on yourself in e-File. You can find more detailed information on how to access your data in the first point of the FAQ.

Information on the expiry of punishments can be found under the question: ‘How long does it take for information concerning punishments to be deleted from the database?’.