Criminal Forgery Under the Jordanian Penal Code

Criminal Forgery in the Jordanian Penal Code

The Jordanian legislature, like other legislatures around the world, gave great importance to addressing the crime of forgery and imposing a deterrent penalty on every public official, non-official, person acting on behalf of another, or any person who forges official or non-official (private) documents, or who uses or produces them knowing they are forged. It did so because it recognized the seriousness of the crime of criminal forgery and its harmful effect in the loss of the rights and interests of members of society. Not only that: the Jordanian legislature took a step ahead of other legislatures around the world when it laid down a legal provision defining the crime of criminal forgery in the Jordanian Penal Code, as explained in the following paragraph.

Second: Definition of Criminal Forgery

Article 260 of the Jordanian Penal Code provides that forgery is "a fabricated distortion of the truth in the facts and particulars intended to be proven by an instrument or a manuscript relied upon as proof, from which material, moral or social harm has resulted or may result." Through this definition, the Jordanian legislature made clear that the offender cannot be punished for the crime of forgery unless the elements constituting the crime of forgery are present, namely the material element and the mental element, as explained in the third paragraph.

Third: The Elements of Criminal Forgery

The material element: the crime coming into existence

It is divided into two parts:

The first part: the criminal acts, meaning the offender's engaging in conduct or an act constituting criminal forgery as criminalized by law. For the offender to be found to have committed the crime of criminal forgery, a distinction must be drawn between the criminal acts in forging official documents and the criminal acts in forging private documents. In forging official documents, the offender must carry out a fabricated distortion of the facts and particulars, either by misusing their signature or the seal entrusted to them by virtue of their work, or their fingerprint, or by signing a forged signature, or by making forged instruments or manuscripts, or by deleting or adding any changes to the content of the original instruments or manuscripts.

Likewise, the crime of criminal forgery is committed against official documents if the offender introduces confusion into the subject or circumstances of the instrument, such as misusing it and signing in blank on instruments entrusted to them by virtue of their work, or if the offender records contracts or statements other than those made by the contracting parties or dictated by them to the offender, or if the offender records false facts as true or unacknowledged facts as acknowledged, or if the offender distorts any other fact by omitting a matter or stating it incorrectly. Among the cases of criminal forgery that may also be committed against official documents is where the offender, who has custody of registers or records kept with them under legal authorization, knowingly allows entries relating to a material matter to be made in them while knowing those entries are untrue.

In addition to the previous cases, there are cases of criminal forgery that may be committed against non-official documents (private documents), such as the offender erasing the crossing on a cheque, adding particulars to it, or changing particulars in it, or the offender circulating a crossed cheque knowing that its crossing has been erased, or that untrue particulars have been added to it, or that its true particulars have been changed.

The second part: the criminal result, meaning the occurrence or possible occurrence of material, moral or social harm to the victim that causes them a loss of assessed or assessable value, for which they are entitled to claim compensation from the offender by bringing a claim for the private right (the victim's personal claim).

The mental element: the offender's criminal intent

It is divided into two parts:

The first part: the offender's knowledge, meaning the offender's awareness and understanding of the nature of the act and conduct criminalized by law and that anyone who commits such acts is punished, such as the offender using forged documents while aware of their nature, and the offender knowingly making an entry in an instrument relating to a material matter while knowing that entry is untrue.

The second part: the offender's will, meaning the criminal intent formed within the offender when undertaking an act they know constitutes a serious crime against the rights of individuals and society. This is one of the matters within the discretion of the trial judge, who draws it from the facts of the case and the court proceedings, particularly when the offender is interrogated and confronted with the evidence presented against them in the Public Prosecutor's investigation, the expert report and the other evidence attached to the case file, bearing in mind that the crime of criminal forgery can be proven by all means of proof.

Fourth: The Penalty for Criminal Forgery

The offender's penalty for forgery differs according to the forged instruments or manuscripts. If the documents are official, the charge is a felony within the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court of First Instance, punishable by temporary hard labor with a minimum of five years, up to fifteen years, and the minimum of temporary hard labor is seven years if the offender is a public official and the forged instrument is one of the instruments the official works with and whose forgery is alleged.

All persons who commit forgery in official documents are punished with the same penalties, including the accomplice, the instigator and the accessory. If, however, the forged instruments or manuscripts are non-official documents (private documents), the charge is a misdemeanor within the jurisdiction of the Criminal Magistrates' Court, and the penalty is imprisonment with a minimum of one year, up to three years, and a fine of at least fifty Jordanian dinars (JOD).

The Position of the Jordanian Judiciary on Criminal Forgery

The Jordanian Court of Cassation ruled in one of its judgments that "the accused's impersonation of her sister Khadija before the Zarqa notary public and her signing of the general notarized power of attorney form as Khadija constitutes, in legal application, the felony of forgery in official documents contrary to Articles 260 and 265 of the Jordanian Penal Code, as the trial court concluded.. The accused's identifying the accused Najiya before the Zarqa notary public as Khadija and signing the notarized power of attorney form as a witness and identifier constitutes, in legal application, the felony of acting as an accessory to forgery in official documents contrary to Articles 260, 262 and (2\80) of the Jordanian Penal Code, on the basis that this facilitated and completed the commission of the crime."

The Jordanian Court of Cassation also ruled in one of its judgments that "if the accused accessed the computer outside his competence, struck out the name of the complainant Mustafa as buyer and partner in the plot of land from the electronic register entry, restored the name of the seller Eida to the electronic register entry, and issued a red title deed (entry) bearing the name of the seller Eida without the name of the buyer, which led the complainant to file the complaint, these acts constitute the elements and components of the felony of forgery contrary to the provisions of Article 262 of the Jordanian Penal Code, read with Articles 3 and 4 of the Jordanian Economic Crimes Law."