Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the latest edition:
Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Forgery, production or circulation of counterfeit documents, state awards, stamps, seals or forms
1. Forgery of an official document granting rights or exempting from obligations for the purpose of its use or sale of such a document, or production for the same purposes or sale of counterfeit state awards of the Russian Federation, RSFSR, USSR, stamps, seals or forms -
shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to two years, or forced labor for a term of up to two years, or arrest for a term of up to six months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.
2. Forgery of a citizen’s passport or certificate granting rights or exempting from obligations for the purpose of their use or sale of such documents -
shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to three years, or forced labor for a term of up to three years, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years.
3. Acquisition, storage, transportation for the purpose of use or sale, or use of a deliberately counterfeit citizen’s passport, identity card or other official document granting rights or releasing from duties, stamps, seals or forms -
shall be punishable by restriction of freedom for a term of up to one year, or forced labor for a term of up to one year, or imprisonment for a term of up to one year.
4. Acts provided for in parts one to three of this article, committed with the aim of concealing another crime or facilitating its commission, -
shall be punished by forced labor for a term of up to four years or imprisonment for the same term.
5. Use of a knowingly forged document, except for the cases provided for in part three of this article, -
shall be punishable by a fine in the amount of up to eighty thousand rubles, or in the amount of the wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of up to six months, or by compulsory labor for a term of up to four hundred eighty hours, or by corrective labor for a term of up to two years, or by arrest for a term of up to six months.
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Comments on Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation
The main object of the crime is the normal activities of public authorities and management. An additional object is the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and legal entities.
The social danger of the act lies in the fact that it violates the established procedure for handling official documents, stamps, forms, seals, as well as the rights of citizens.
A forged document is a document containing deliberately distorted information about certain facts. Distortion of information can be carried out by forging the signature of the applicant and other persons, the certification inscription (signature and seal) of a notary, making corrections to the text of the document through erasures, additions, reprints, etc., including using various types of technical means.
Forgery of a document can be either partial (making changes through erasures, additions, reprints, etc. to an original document) or complete (creating a completely false document) (letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated April 23, 2014 N SA-4-14 /7872).
Punishment for official forgery
The main thing you need to know about official forgery is that such actions are a crime, i.e. responsibility for them is provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (CC RF). Article 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains two parts - the first is devoted to “simple” official forgery, the second - to a similar act, but entailing a significant violation of rights and legitimate interests (regardless of whose rights were violated - a person or a group of people, a legal entity, protected legislation interests of the state or society).
Punishment for joint ventures can vary from a fine to imprisonment. What responsibility a person who commits official forgery will bear depends on the part of Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which he will be found guilty, as well as from some other circumstances. In particular, the criminal law provides for the following types of punishment for joint ventures:
- fine (up to 500 thousand rubles or in the amount of the perpetrator’s income for a period of up to 3 years);
- compulsory work (up to 480 hours);
- correctional labor (up to 2 years);
- forced labor (up to 4 years);
- arrest (up to 6 months);
- imprisonment (up to 4 years).
If the punishment is imposed under Part 2 of Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, then additionally, by a court decision, the perpetrator may be prohibited from engaging in certain activities for a period of up to 3 years. It may also be decided to prohibit the offender from holding certain positions during the same period.
Important! According to Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, punishment is imposed on officials, state and municipal employees. An ordinary citizen cannot be held accountable for official forgery.
Criminal and administrative liability for forgery of documents
Forgery of an identity document confirming that a person has a right or exemption from an obligation, as well as forgery of a stamp, seal, form, their use, transfer or sale, entails administrative liability under Part 1 of Art. 19.23 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
The objective side of the crime under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, expressed as in Art. 19.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a deliberate act related to the forgery of a document, its production, or sale.
In Art. 19.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation there is no indication of the purpose of forgery as a mandatory sign of the objective side of the offense.
Unlike Art. 19.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a mandatory element of the crime provided for in Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is its purpose - the use or sale of a document (Parts 1 - 3 of Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), concealment of another crime or facilitating its commission (Part 4 of Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
The subject of an administrative offense can only be a legal entity, and a criminal offense - only an individual.
Commentary to Art. 327 Criminal Code
1. Subject of the crime: a) official documents granting rights or releasing from duties, including certificates as personal evidence of a person’s status (passport, driver’s license, service ID, etc.); b) state awards of the Russian Federation, RSFSR, USSR; c) stamps; d) printing; e) forms - paper forms with information partially reproduced on them, including details of an organization (department), intended for drawing up a document in a certain form.
On the concept of an official document granting rights or releasing from duties, state awards of the Russian Federation, the RSFSR, the USSR, a stamp, a seal, see the comments to Art. 324 and 325 of the Criminal Code.
2. According to Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the objective side of the main composition in part 1 (alternatively): a) forgery of a document by producing a fictitious document, usually having all the formal features, but certifying missing facts and conditions, or illegally changing a genuine document; b) production of counterfeit state awards, stamps, seals, forms; c) sale (transfer, alienation) of any of the named items.
3. Forgery of documents, as well as the production of counterfeit state awards, stamps, seals, forms, is carried out for the purpose of their use (presentation or presentation).
The subjects of counterfeiting or marketing are both the perpetrators of the counterfeiting and other persons.
4. The objective side of the second main composition (Part 3) is the use of a deliberately forged document for its intended purpose, i.e. its presentation, delivery, transfer and performance of other similar actions for the illegal acquisition of rights or release from obligations.
The use of a deliberately forged document in order to conceal or facilitate the commission of another crime does not require additional qualifications if it is an objective sign, in particular, it constitutes a deceptive method of committing another crime.
5. According to Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of Russia, the subject of the crime according to established judicial practice in Part 3 is a person who is not the manufacturer of the forged document.
What documents are considered official?
The legislation does not contain a clear definition of an official document, while this concept is especially important for qualification under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that in each specific situation the same document may or may not be official. In other words, the concept of an official document must be approached individually, taking into account two general criteria that have long been used in criminal law:
- The document participates in the official document flow, which is controlled by government authorities represented by various bodies: the State Traffic Inspectorate (issuing driver's licenses), the Ministry of Health (issuing certificates of incapacity for work), the Ministry of Education (issuing diplomas). Thus, the essence of officiality excludes the legal possibility of an ordinary citizen or an ordinary organization producing one or another form on which text is subsequently supposed to be applied. Moreover, each official document is subject to a certain registration, the procedure for which is always established by departmental regulations.
- Upon presentation of such a document, the right to receive some benefit or exemption from some obligation always arises.
Example No. 1 . When hired, the candidate for the position presented a high school diploma, which turned out to be false. The certificate has signs of officiality (issued by strictly defined authorities) and provides the right (to enter a university). A criminal case was initiated under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
There are many types of official documents, the forgery of which entails criminal liability:
- identification documents - that is, documents that can only be issued by competent authorities in a strictly established manner;
- notarized animals. In accordance with the legislation on notaries, a notary is a competent person, whose status is confirmed by successfully passing a qualification exam and the conclusion of the notary chamber. Consequently, when drawing up documents, the notary acts on behalf of the state - that is, even the forgery of a copy of documents certified on behalf of the notary may well become the basis for prosecution;
- issued by authorities, as well as by judicial authorities (for example, a fake certificate, writ of execution);
- electronic documents - if the rules of registration are observed (certification with an electronic signature), they also become official and can be the subject of a crime.
Within the meaning of Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, only acts of forgery, but not forgery, are subject to criminal prosecution. Thus, if a citizen intentionally presents an original document belonging to another person, there will be no criminal liability under this article.
Example No. 2 . Ivanov R.P., using the identity of his friend, Navy serviceman R.V. Vasiliev, with whom he was very similar, boarded a military ship, on which he safely reached a foreign state. Here there is no forgery of documents under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, since the document presented to the command is not fake.
In such situations, the actions of the official will correspond to such a crime as official forgery - under Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Compound
Forgery and the use of false documents are still intertwined. Because one crime follows from another. After all, without producing fake documents, their use will be impossible.
The composition of the act under Part 3 of Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will be as follows:
- the subject is only a sane person who is already sixteen years old;
- the subjective side is presented in the form of direct intent, because a person commits a crime consciously, knowing that he is committing illegal actions;
— the object here is a violation of established state and legal norms;
— the objective side is expressed in the varied use of false documents.
Responsibility under other articles
In some circumstances, acts of forgery or sale of counterfeit documents may be covered by other articles of the Criminal Code.
Thus, when a counterfeit prescription for a narcotic drug is presented to a pharmacy, the actions of the perpetrator will correspond to the crime provided for in Art. 233 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and does not require additional articles.
For falsification of the results of a decision of participants in a general meeting of a business company, a separate article 185.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is provided.
For the manufacture or sale of counterfeit securities or cash (any banknotes) the penalty is up to 15 years in prison in accordance with Art. 186 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, in the presence of certain additional signs.
It is necessary to take into account that administrative liability for forgery of documents also exists. According to the description, the actions constituting an offense under Art. 19.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, completely coincide with the crime, the signs of which we examined in this article. The difference is that according to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, only a legal entity is liable for forgery of official documents, which may be subject to a fine of 30,000 to 40,000 rubles. Examples of such offenses could be fake licenses to carry out work, provide specialized services, etc.
Basics
The use of false documents is punishable by law. After all, in the Russian Federation this is considered a criminal offense. In turn, a person who presents false documents to various institutions, organizations and officials is an attacker and must be punished for what he has done. The sanctions for this crime are specified in Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, part 3.
Unfortunately, many people are not stopped even by the fact that the use of fake documents is criminally punishable. In addition, some people believe that a purchased higher education diploma is no different from the one awarded to university graduates after graduation. Although in fact this opinion is erroneous, and the use of forged papers is illegal.
In practice
Here it must be said that nowadays there are more and more cases of people openly using false documents. It is for this reason that many citizens have a criminal record under Art. 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (part 3). Practice shows that most young people who do not want to study acquire diplomas from various companies that legally produce printed materials. It is not so easy to detect false documents; this requires a special examination.
Citizens who used false diplomas and other certificates when applying for employment in the organization were subsequently dismissed from the enterprise on the initiative of the manager himself. After which the former employees were held accountable for the act committed.
In addition, in practice, sometimes different situations occurred. Some people even worked as doctors in the surgical department of a hospital with fake diplomas and operated on people. Other attackers taught children and even worked in government agencies.
Nuance
So, this means that a person can be held accountable for his actions only if the latter used forged documents to exercise his rights, the falsity of which he knew in advance. But what will happen if the citizen did not even suspect that the papers were fake? Of course, in order to prove a person’s guilt in deliberately using forged documents, a preliminary investigation must be conducted. After all, it may also be that the latter did not know that the papers were not real (for example, a citizen received a passport in the prescribed manner, but the document number in the database was not recorded). Although in practice this rarely happens.
Therefore, if the investigative authorities fail to prove the fact that a person deliberately used a false document, the latter will not suffer any punishment for this.
