A criminal record is also known as a criminal conviction history.

What your criminal record covers

Your criminal record covers criminal and traffic convictions.

It doesn't include:

  • infringements, such as parking tickets
  • charges that haven’t gone to court yet
  • any charges where you weren’t convicted
  • times you’ve gone to court and were found not guilty
  • military (Court Martial) convictions
  • overseas convictions
  • Police diversions
  • charges in the Youth Court
  • demerit points and driver licence suspensions. You can get a report on these from the New Zealand Transport Agency.

New Zealand Transport Agency website(external link)

If you’re eligible for a clean slate, your criminal record will be concealed under the Clean Slate scheme.

Find out more about the Clean Slate scheme and concealing convictions

Who can see my criminal record?

In most cases, no-one can see your record unless you give your signed permission.

Wrong information on your criminal record

If you think your record is wrong, write to us at Te Tāhū o te Ture - the Ministry of Justice. Tell us why you think it’s wrong and what should be fixed.

You can write to us at:

CCHonline@justice.govt.nz

Correction of wrong information we hold about you

You have the right to ask us to correct the information we hold about you if you think it’s wrong. Where your correction request is covered by the Privacy Act 2020, we’ll respond in accordance with your rights under principle 7 of the Privacy Act.

If your correction request isn’t covered by the Privacy Act 2020 and we’re unable to make the change(s) you’ve asked for, we’ll let you know. For example, we can change the information on your criminal conviction history if we’ve processed it incorrectly, but we can’t alter a court record. 

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