Criminal record certificate coordinator: role, responsibilities and tools

Who is the criminal record certificate coordinator?

The criminal record certificate coordinator is the person in the club or organisation who has practical, day-to-day responsibility for ensuring that everyone working with children and young people has presented an up-to-date criminal record certificate. The board appoints this person, and the board also holds overall responsibility for compliance with the requirements.

A deputy should also be appointed to cover absences. The board must be able to document who the criminal record certificate coordinator is at all times.

What are the responsibilities?

The role covers four main responsibilities:

• Maintain oversight - of who must present a criminal record certificate, including everyone who changes responsibilities and needs a new one.
• Have a system - a secure, GDPR-compliant register of who has presented one, date, position and follow-up. The certificate itself must be kept by the applicant.
• Provide training - instruct coaches and volunteers on how to apply, and ensure the purpose letter is correctly completed. For persons under 18, parental consent must be obtained.
• Control and verification - check that the certificate has no remarks, and that it is no older than 3 months.

Confidentiality and data protection

Only the criminal record certificate coordinator, deputy and possibly the board chair should know the content of criminal record certificates. These individuals are bound by confidentiality under the Police Register Act. The certificate itself must never be stored in the club's systems - it remains with the applicant.

Common challenges

Many clubs have the role formally in place, but experience problems in practice: spreadsheets that become outdated, lack of follow-up on renewals, errors in purpose letters that lead to rejected applications, and uncertainty about which position category requires which type of check.

How Right Person supports the criminal record certificate coordinator

1. Central dashboard for the entire club. All candidates, status, expiry date and follow-up in one place - no manual spreadsheets.
2. Automatic purpose letters. The system fills in the correct letter for each position type - the coordinator doesn't have to remember which legal basis applies.
3. Reminders and renewals. Right Person alerts you before checks expire and can trigger a new application automatically when a coach changes role.
4. GDPR-secure logging. All activity is logged with timestamps and audit trail - ready for internal control or requirements from federation/supervisory authority.