Ryan Ginstrom wrote:
> "Declan Murphy" <declan_murphy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4133F428.30000@hotmail.com...
> 
>>Problem for me is defining 犯罪を理由とする処分を受けたこと - I was
>>intending to translate it "Have you been convicted of a criminal
>>offence", but am worried that some applicants will interpret that as
>>including speeding/parking fines etc. Being arrested, questioned,
>>cautioned etc apparently wouldn't be an issue.
>>
>>So what is a criminal record in whichever country you come from?
> 
> At the risk of bringing down the wrath of the lawyers and law-school
> graduates amongst us, I would say that in order to have a criminal record
> one must be convicted by a court. So fines/warnings/jail-cell beatings would
> not count.

I would have assumed fines would count, and that warnings etc wouldn't
under whatever definition is used. Cue the Kevins.

Its interesting (I'm easily amused I guess) to note that the Japanese
form - the 在留資格認定証明書交付申請書 - is still only 3 pages long
while the Australian one for an equivalent student visa runs to 22 pages
(and isn't bilingual).

The Aussie form asks 11 questions in its "character declaration", the
sepponian DS-156 half a dozen, though each is multiple. I like the
following one "Do you seek to enter Sepponia to engage in export control
violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful
purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization
as currently designated by the Sepponian Secretary of State? Have you
ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of
Germany; or have you ever participated in genocide" - Yes / No

-- 
"They took you up to midnight Mass and left you in the lurch
So you dropped a button in the plate and spewed up in the church."

 - The Sickbed of Cuchulainn