A blurred conviction is extremely important from the point of view of humanity, conduct and criminal policy. Contemporary criminology (ie science of crime) assumes that punishing the perpetrator of a crime should not last forever. The passage of time causes the memory of crime to blur in social memory. The perpetrator also, after serving his sentence, should be able to live without the stigma of the criminal, because it distances him from society and prevents him from permanently moving away from the criminal path. For these reasons, the institution of blurred conviction was introduced.

As a rule, all judgments are blurred, except for a sentence of imprisonment, without conditional suspension of its execution, for a crime against sexual freedom and decency of a minor under 15 years of age.

Once the conviction has been erased, the conviction is deemed not to have been made. The entry about the conviction is removed from the criminal record and the offender may formally pretend to be an unpunished person.

The conviction will be blurred after a specified period of time has elapsed from the execution or forgiveness of the sentence imposed for the offense (or the limitation period). The specific time after which the conviction takes place depends on the type of sentence or the sentence imposed:

1. In the event of a conviction to imprisonment or 25 years' imprisonment - the conviction shall be blurred after 10 years, but the court may order (upon request) the imprisonment after 5 years.
2. If sentenced to life imprisonment - blurring occurs after 10 years.
3. In the event of a conviction to restriction of liberty - blurring occurs after 3 years.
4. If sentenced to a fine - blurring occurs after 1 year.
5. In the event of the court waiving the penalty - it will be blurred after 1 year
6. In the event of a sentence being suspended / conditional on remission - blurring occurs 6 months after the end of the probationary period.

However, blurring may not take place before the execution (or delivery of execution) of the imposed criminal measures.

The conviction will not be blurred if the perpetrator has been convicted of another crime before the previous one has been erased. It is only permissible to blur all convictions at the same time.

Glossary of basic terms

[legal status: May 2020]