Criminal record systems occupy a structurally ambivalent position at the intersection of crime control, social governance, and fundamental rights protection. On the one hand, the state’s systematic recording and disclosure of prior convictions serves public security, judicial efficiency, and preventive objectives. On the other hand, the enduring visibility of past offences risks transforming criminal punishment into a lifelong social stigma, undermining rehabilitation, proportionality, and personal development. This article undertakes a comprehensive comparative and doctrinal analysis of criminal record registration, inquiry, disclosure, sealing, and expungement, focusing primarily on Germany and China while incorporating relevant comparative perspectives. Drawing strictly on the provided references, the study reconstructs the historical evolution, normative foundations, and institutional logic of criminal record regimes, with particular emphasis on minor offences and juvenile delinquency. Through an integrated methodological approach combining doctrinal legal analysis, historical interpretation, and comparative institutional study, the article demonstrates that criminal record systems are not neutral administrative tools but deeply value-laden legal institutions shaped by penal theory, constitutional rights, and social policy. The German model, characterized by centralized registers, differentiated disclosure rules, and constitutionally anchored rehabilitation principles, contrasts sharply with China’s fragmented, locally constructed inquiry and certification practices, which increasingly confront tensions between social management and emerging personal information rights. The analysis reveals converging reform trajectories, especially regarding record sealing for juveniles and minor offences, yet also persistent structural divergences rooted in differing legal traditions and governance logics. The article argues that sustainable criminal record reform requires a systematic recalibration of the relationship between punishment, information, and social reintegration, advancing a principled model that integrates proportionality, temporal limitation, and differentiated access while safeguarding both public interests and individual dignity.

Criminal records, Expungement, Juvenile justice

BeckOK. 2024. StPO mit RiStBV und MiStra, 53. Aufl.

Chongqing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, Chongqing People’s Procuratorate. 2022. Notice on issuing the interim measures for criminal record checks for staff in positions involving close contact with minors in the Chongqing civil affairs system.

Cui, Z. 2021. Constructing a criminal record expungement system under the legislative trend of positive criminal law. Modern Law Science 6, 162–179.

de Groot, T. 2021. The criminal registry in the German Empire: the “Cult of Previous Convictions” and the offender’s right to be forgotten. German History 39(3), 358–376.

Deutscher Bundestag. 1969. Entwurf eines Gesetzes über das Zentral- und das Erziehungsregister.

Deutscher Bundestag. 1970. Gesetz über das Zentralregister und das Erziehungsregister.

Ding, X. 2023. The doctrinal relationship between the right to privacy and the right to personal information. Studies in Law and Business 6, 61–74.

Dünkel, F. 2019. Youth justice in Germany. In Decker, M., Junger-Tas, J.W. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice.

Eisenberg, U., et al. 2024. Jugendgerichtsgesetz: Kommentar, 25. Aufl.

Engel, C., et al. 2022. Intensified support for juvenile offenders on probation. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 19, 447–490.

Federal Constitutional Court. 1973. Decision BVerfGE 35, 202.

Federal Constitutional Court. 1974. Decision BVerfGE 36, 174.

Federal Constitutional Court. 1983. Decision BVerfGE 65(1).

Federal Court of Justice. 1972. Judgment 3 Str 66/72.

Federal Labour Court. 2012. Judgment 2 AZR 270/11.

Fujin Provincial Public Security Department. 2019. Provisional specifications for issuing certificates of non-criminal record.

Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department. 2014. Provisions on the application for certificates of non-criminal record.

Huang, Q., Peng, W. 2024. China’s criminal record inquiry system. Journal of Jiangsu Police Institute 3, 55–63.

Li, S. 2024. Constructing a sealing mechanism for minor criminal records. China Law Review, 21–36.

Liang, Y. 2021. On the need for a criminal record expungement system. Tribune of Political Science and Law 4, 30–43.

Liang, Y. 2023. Developing an expungement system for minor offences. Tribune of Political Legal Forum 5, 36–49.

Ma, K. 2007. The criminal policy of combining punishment with leniency. Studies in Law and Business 1, 3–8.

Morgenstern, C. 2011. Judicial rehabilitation in Germany. European Journal of Probation 3(1), 20–35.

Morgenstern, C. 2019. Der ewige Makel – Straftheorie, Grundrechte und das Strafregister. Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft, 625–665.

Pang, D. 2018. A study of the Russian criminal record system. Criminal Law Review 2, 355–385.

Peng, W. 2022. Regulating the system of collateral consequences of criminal convictions in China. Chinese Journal of Law 6, 173–174.

Peng, W. 2025. Local construction of restoration systems and the predicament of minor offence governance. Legal Forum 4, 68–80.

Peng, X. 2021. Expungement of criminal records in the United States and its implications. Global Law Review 1, 164–178.

Pfeiffer, J. 2000. Die unbeschränkte Auskunft aus dem Bundeszentralregister. Neue Zeitschrift für Strafrecht, 402–407.

Rebmann, K. 1983. Einhundert Jahre Strafregisterwesen in Deutschland. Neue Juristische Wochenschrift, 1513–1518.

Schumann, K.F. (Ed.). 2003. Delinquenz im Lebensverlauf. Juventa.

Shi, Y. 2025. Legal positioning and systematic construction of minor offence record sealing. Comparative Law Studies 2, 18–31.

Song, Y., Yang, W. 2019. A study on the sealing of juvenile criminal records in China. Journal of the National Prosecutors College 4, 21–22.

Sonnen, B.-R. 2023. Rechtsfolgen nach dem Registerrecht. In Cornel, H., et al. (Eds.), Resozialisierung: Handbuch für Studium, Wissenschaft und Praxis.

Storck, W. 2023. More education of juvenile offenders in sentences of imprisonment. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe 20, 54–80.