[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
	Statutes of Northern Ireland
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Statutes of Northern Ireland >> URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_act/fa1913108.txt

[New search] [Help]

FORGERY ACT 1913

FORGERY ACT 1913 - LONG TITLE

An Act to consolidate, simplify, and amend the Law relating to
Forgery and kindred Offences.{1}
[15th August 1913]
Definition of forgery.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 1

1.(1) For the purposes of this Act, forgery is the making of a
false document in order that it may be used as genuine, and in
the case of the seals and dies mentioned in this Act the
counterfeiting of a seal or die, and forgery with intent to defraud
or deceive, as the case may be, is punishable as in this Act
provided.

(2) A document is false within the meaning of this Act if the
whole or any material part thereof purports to be made by or on
behalf or on account of a person who did not make it nor
authorise its making; or if, though made by or on behalf or on
account of the person by whom or by whose authority it purports to
have been made, the time or place of making, where either is
material, or, in the case of a document identified by number or
mark, the number or any distinguishing mark identifying the document,
is falsely stated therein; and in particular a document is false:

(a)if any material alteration whether by addition, insertion,
obliteration, erasure, removal, or otherwise, has been made therein;

(b)if the whole or some material part of it purports to be made
by or on behalf of a fictitious or deceased person;

(c)if, though made in the name of an existing person, it is made
by him or by his authority with the intention that it should pass
as having been made by some person, real or fictitious, other than
the person who made or authorised it.

(3) For the purposes of this Act

(a)it is immaterial in what language a document is expressed or in
what place within or without the King's dominions it is expressed
to take effect;

(b)forgery of a document may be complete even if the document when
forged is incomplete, or is not or does not purport to be such a
document as would be binding or sufficient in law;

(c)the crossing on any cheque, draft on a banker, post-office money
order, postal order, coupon, or other document the crossing of which
is authorised or recognised by law, shall be a material part of
such cheque, draft, order, coupon, or document.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 2
Forgery of certain documents with intent to defraud.

2.(1) Forgery of the following documents, if committed with intent
to defraud, shall be felony and punishable with penal servitude for
life:

(a)Any will, codicil, or other testamentary document, either of a
dead or of a living person, or any probate or letters of
administration, whether with or without the will annexed;

(b)Any deed or bond, or any assignment at law or in equity of any
deed or bond, or any attestation of the execution of any deed or
bond;

(c)Any bank note, or any indorsement on or assignment of any bank
note.

(2) Forgery of the following documents, if committed with intent to
defraud, shall be felony and punishable with penal servitude for any
term not exceeding fourteen years:

(a)Any valuable security or assignment thereof or endorsement thereon,
or, where the valuable security is a bill of exchange, any
acceptance thereof;

(b)Any document of title or lands or any assignment thereof or
endorsement thereon;

(c)Any document of title to goods or any assignment thereof or
endorsement thereon;

(d)Any power of attorney or other authority to transfer any share
or interest in any stock, annuity, or public fund of the United
Kingdom or any part of His Majesty's dominions or of any foreign
state or country or to transfer any share or interest in the debt
of any public body, company, or society, British or foreign, or in
the capital stock of any such company or society, or to receive
any dividend or money payable in respect of such share or interest
or any attestation of any such power of attorney or other
authority;

(e)Any entry in any book or register which is evidence of the
title of any person to any share or interest hereinbefore mentioned
or to any dividend or interest payable in respect thereof;

(f)Any policy of insurance or any assignment thereof or endorsement
thereon;

(g)Any charter-party or any assignment thereof;

(h)Any declaration, warrant, order, affidavit, affirmation, certificate,
or other document required or authorised to be made by or for the
purposes of the Government Annuities Act, 1829 or the Government
Annuities Act, 1832, or by the National Debt Commissioners acting
under the authority of the said Acts;

(i)Any certificate of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or any
other Commissioners acting in execution of the Income Tax Acts;

(j)Any certificate, certificate of valuation, sentence or decree of
condemnation or restitution, or any copy of such sentence or decree,
or any receipt required by the Slave Trade Acts.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 3
Forgery of certain documents with intent to defraud or deceive.

3.(1) Forgery of the following documents, if committed with intent
to defraud or deceive, shall be felony, and punishable with penal
servitude for life:

Any document whatsoever having thereupon or affixed thereto the stamp
or impression of the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, His
Majesty's Privy Seal, any privy signet of His Majesty, His Majesty's
Royal Sign Manual, any of His Majesty's seals appointed by the
Twenty-fourth Article of the Union between England and Scotland to
be kept, used, and continued in Scotland, the Great Seal of Ireland
or the Privy Seal of Ireland.

(2) Forgery of the following documents, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony, and punishable with penal
servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years:

(a)Any register or record of births, baptisms, namings, dedications,
marriages, deaths, burials, or cremations, which now is, or hereafter
may be, by law authorised or required to be kept in the United
Kingdom, relating to any birth, baptism, naming, dedication, marriage,
death, burial, or cremation, or any part of any such register, or
any certified copy of any such register, or of any part thereof;

(b)Any copy of any register of baptisms, marriages, burials, or
cremations, directed or required by law to be transmitted to any
registrar or other officer;

(c)Any register of the birth, baptism, death, burial, or cremation
of any person to be appointed a nominee under the provisions of
the Government Annuities Act, 1829, or any copy or certificate of
any such register, or the name of any witness to any such
certificate;

(d)Any certified copy of a record purporting to be signed by an
assistant keeper of the Public Records in England;

(e)Any wrapper or label provided by or under the authority of the
Commissioners of Inland Revenue or the Commissioners of Customs and
Excise.

(3) Forgery of the following documents, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony, and punishable with penal
servitude for any term not exceeding seven years:

(a)Any official document whatsoever of or belonging to any court of
justice, or made or issued by any judge, magistrate, officer, or
clerk of any such court;

(b)Any register or book kept under the provisions of any law in or
under the authority of any court of justice;

(c)Any certificate, office copy, or certified copy of any such
document, register, or book or of any part thereof;

(d)Any document which any magistrate or any master or registrar in
lunacy is authorised or required by law to make or issue;

(e)Any document which any person authorised to administer an oath
under the Commissioners for Oaths Act, 1889, is authorised or
required by law to make or issue;

(f)Any document made or issued by an officer of state or law
officer of the Crown, or any document upon which, by the law or
usage at the time in force, any court of justice or any officer
might act;

(g)Any document or copy of a document used or intended to be used
in evidence in any court of record, or any document which is made
evidence by law;

(h)Any certificate required by any Act for the celebration of
marriage;

(i)Any licence for the celebration of marriage which may be given
by law;

(j)Any certificate, declaration, or order under any enactment relating
to the registration of births or deaths;

(k)Any register book, builder's certificate, surveyor's certificate,
certificate of registry, declaration, bill of sale, instrument of
mortgage, or certificate of mortgage or sale under Part I of the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, or any entry or endorsement required by
the said Part of the said Act to be made in or on any of those
documents;

(l)Any permit, certificate, or similar document made or granted by
or under the authority of the Commissioners of Customs and Excise.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 4
Forgery of other documents with intent to defraud or to deceive a
misdemeanour.

4.(1) Forgery of any document, ..., if committed with intent to
defraud, shall be a misdemeanour and punishable with imprisonment ...
for any term not exceeding two years.

(2) Forgery of any public document ..., if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be a misdemeanour and punishable with
imprisonment ... for any term not exceeding two years.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 5
Forgery of seals and dies.

5.(1) Forgery of the following seals, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony and punishable with penal
servitude for life:

(a)The Great Seal of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Privy Seal,
any privy signet of His Majesty, His Majesty's Royal Sign Manual,
any of His Majesty's seals appointed by the Twenty-fourth Article of
the Union between England and Scotland to be kept, used, and
continued in Scotland, the Great Seal of Ireland or the Privy Seal
of Ireland;

(b)The seal of the Public Record Office in England;

(c)The seal of any court of record;

(d)The seal of the office of the Registrar-General of Births,
Deaths, and Marriages.

(2) Forgery of the following seals, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony, and punishable with penal
servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years:

(a)The seal of any register office relating to births, baptisms,
marriages, or deaths;

(b)The seal of any burial board or of any local authority
performing the duties of a burial board;

(c)The seal of or belonging to any office for the registry of
deeds or titles to lands.

(3) Forgery of the following seals, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony and punishable with penal
servitude for any term not exceeding seven years:

(a)The seal of any court of justice other than a court of record;

(b)The seal of the office of any master or registrar in lunacy.

(4) Forgery of the following dies, if committed with intent to
defraud or deceive, shall be felony and punishable with penal
servitude for any term not exceeding fourteen years:

(a)Any die provided, made, or used by the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue or the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

Para.(b) rep. by 1973 c.43 s.23 sch.7 Pt.I

Subs.(5) spent

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 6
Uttering.

6.(1) Every person who utters any forged document, seal, or die
shall be guilty of an offence ... and on conviction thereof shall
be liable to the same punishment as if he himself had forged the
document, seal, or die.

(2) A person utters a forged document, seal, or die, who, knowing
the same to be forged, and with either of the intents necessary to
constitute the offence of forging the said document, seal, or die,
uses, offers, publishes, delivers, disposes of, tenders in payment or
in exchange, exposes for sale or exchange, exchanges, tenders in
evidence, or puts off the said forged document, seal, or die.

(3) It is immaterial where the document, seal, or die was forged.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 7
Demanding property on forged documents, &c.

7. Every person shall be guilty of felony and on conviction thereof
shall be liable to penal servitude for any term not exceeding
fourteen years, who, with intent to defraud, demands, receives, or
obtains, or causes or procures to be delivered, paid or transferred
to any person, or endeavours to receive or obtain or to cause or
procure to be delivered, paid or transferred to any person any
money, security for money or other property, real or personal:

(a)under, upon, or by virtue of any forged instrument whatsoever,
knowing the same to be forged; or

(b)under, upon, or by virtue of any probate or letters of
administration, knowing the will, testament, codicil, or testamentary
writing on which such probate or letters of administration shall
have been obtained to have been forged, or knowing such probate or
letters of administration to have been obtained by any false oath,
affirmation, or affidavit.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 8
Possession of forged documents, seals, and dies.

8.(1) Every person shall be guilty of felony and on conviction
thereof shall be liable to penal servitude for any term not
exceeding fourteen years, who, without lawful authority or excuse,
the proof whereof shall lie on the accused, purchases or receives
from any person, or has in his custody or possession, a forged
bank note, knowing the same to be forged.

(2) Every person shall be guilty of felony and on conviction
thereof shall be liable to penal servitude for any term not
exceeding fourteen years, who, without lawful authority or excuse,
the proof whereof shall lie on the accused, and knowing the same
to be forged, has in his custody or possession

Para.(a) rep. by 1973 c.43 s.23 sch.7 Pt.I

(b)any forged stamp or die as defined by the Stamp Duties
Management Act, 1891;

(c)any forged wrapper or label provided by or under the authority
of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue or the Commissioners of
Customs and Excise.

Subs.(3) spent

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 9
Making or having in possession paper or implements for forgery.

9. Every person shall be guilty of felony and on conviction thereof
shall be liable to penal servitude for any term not exceeding seven
years, who, without lawful authority or excuse, the proof whereof
shall lie on the accused:

(a)Makes, uses, or knowingly has in his custody or possession any
paper intended to resemble and pass as

(i)Special paper such as is provided and used for making any bank
note, Treasury bill, or London county bill;

(ii)Revenue paper;

(b)Makes, uses, or knowingly has in his custody or possession, any
frame, mould, or instrument for making such paper, or for producing
in or on such paper any words, figures, letters, marks, lines, or
devices peculiar to and used in or on any such paper;

(c)Engraves or in anywise makes upon any plate, wood, stone, or
other material, any words, figures, letters, marks, lines, or
devices, the print whereof resembles in whole or in part any words,
figures, letters, marks, lines, or devices peculiar to and used in
or on any bank note, or in or on any document entitling or
evidencing the title of any person to any share or interest in any
public stock, annuity, fund, or debt of any part of His Majesty's
dominions or of any foreign state, or in any stock, annuity, fund,
or debt of any body corporate, company, or society, whether within
or without His Majesty's dominions;

(d)Uses or knowingly has in his custody or possession any plate,
wood, stone, or other material, upon which any such words, figures,
letters, marks, lines, or devices have been engraved or in anywise
made as aforesaid;

(e)Uses or knowingly has in his custody or possession any paper
upon which any such words, figures, letters, marks, lines, or
devices have been printed or in anywise made as aforesaid.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 10
Purchasing or having in possession certain paper before it has been
duly stamped and issued.

10. Every person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and on
conviction thereof shall be liable to imprisonment, ..., for any
term not exceeding two years, who, without lawful authority or
excuse the proof whereof shall lie on the accused, purchases,
receives, or knowingly has in his custody, or possession

(a)Any special paper provided and used for making Treasury bills or
London county bills or any Revenue paper before such paper has been
duly stamped, signed, and issued for public use:

(b)Any die peculiarly used in the manufacture of any such paper.

S.11 rep. by 1967 c.18 (NI) s.15(2) sch.2 Pt.II

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 12
Punishments.

12.Subs.(1) rep. by 1953 c.14 (NI) s.29 sch.3

(2) Para.(a) rep. by 1967 c.18 (NI) s.15(2) sch.2 Pt.II; para.(b)
rep. by 1953 c.14 (NI) s.29 sch.3; 1967 c.18 (NI) s.15(2) sch.2
Pt.II

(c)On conviction of a misdemeanour punishable under this Act, the
court, instead of or in addition to any other punishment which may
lawfully be imposed for the offence, may require the offender to
enter into his own recognizances, with or without sureties, for
keeping the peace and being of good behaviour:

(d)No person shall be imprisoned under this section for more than
one year for not finding sureties.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 14
Venue.

14.(1) A person charged

(a)with an offence against this Act; or

(b)with an offence indictable at common law or under any Act for
the time being in force consisting in the forging or altering of
any matter whatsoever, or in offering, uttering, disposing of, or
putting off any matter whatsoever, knowing the same to be forged or
altered;

Provided that, where the offence charged relates to documents made
for the purpose of any Act relating to the suppression of the
slave trade, it shall, for the purposes of jurisdiction and trial,
be treated as an offence against the Slave Trade Act, 1873.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the laws relating to the
government of His Majesty's naval or military forces.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 15
Criminal possession.

15. Where the having any document, seal, or die, in the custody or
possession of any person is in this Act expressed to be an
offence, a person shall be deemed to have a document, seal or die
in his custody or possession if he

(a)has it in his personal custody or possession; or

(b)knowingly and wilfully has it in the actual custody or possession
of any other person, or in any building, lodging, apartment, field,
or other place, whether open or enclosed, and whether occupied by
himself or not.

It is immaterial whether the document, matter, or thing is had in
such custody, possession, or place for the use of such person or
for the use or benefit of another person.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 16
Search warrants.

16.(1) If it shall be made to appear by information on oath before
a justice of the peace that there is reasonable cause to believe
that any person has in his custody or possession without lawful
authority or excuse

(a)any bank note; or

(b)any implement for making paper or imitation of the paper used
for bank notes; or

(c)any material having thereon any words, forms, devices, or
characters capable of producing or intended to produce the impression
of a bank note; or

(d)any forged document, seal, or die; or

(e)any machinery, implement, utensil, or material used or intended to
be used for the forgery of any document;

(2) Every document, seal, or die lawfully seized under such warrant
shall be defaced and destroyed or otherwise disposed of

(a)by order of the court before which the offender is tried; or

(b)if there be no trial, by order of a justice of the peace; or

(c)if it affects the public revenue, by the Commissioners of Inland
Revenue or the Commissioners of Customs and Excise, as the case may
require; or

Para.(d) rep. by 1973 c.43 s.23 sch.7 Pt.I

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 17
Form of indictment and proof of intent.

17.(1) In an indictment ... for an offence against this Act with
reference to any document, seal, or die, it is sufficient to refer
to the document, seal, or die by any name or designation by which
it is usually known, or by its purport, without setting out any
copy or facsimile of the whole or any part of the document, seal,
or die.

(2) Where an intent to defraud or an intent to deceive is one of
the constituent elements of an offence punishable under this Act, or
under any other Act relating to forgery or any kindred offence for
the time being in force, it shall not be necessary to allege in
the indictment or to prove an intent to defraud or deceive any
particular person; and it shall be sufficient to prove that the
defendant did the act charged with intent to defraud or to deceive,
as the case may require.

(3) If any person who is a member of any co-partnership, or is
one of two or more beneficial owners of any property, forges any
document, matter, or thing with intent to defraud the co-partnership
or the other beneficial owners, he is liable to be dealt with,
indicted, tried, and punished as if he had not been or was not a
member of the co-partnership, nor one of such beneficial owners.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 18
Interpretation.

18.(1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires

The expression "bank note" includes any note or bill of exchange of
the Bank of England or Bank of Ireland, or of any other person,
body corporate, or company carrying on the business of banking in
any part of the world, and includes "bank bill," ... "blank bank
note," "blank bank bill of exchange," ...:

The expression "die" includes any plate, type, tool, or implement
whatsoever, and also any part of any die plate, type, tool, or
implement, and any stamp or impression thereof or any part of such
stamp or impression:

The expression "document of title to goods" includes any bill of
lading, India warrant, dock warrant, warehouse keepers certificate,
warrant or order for the delivery or transfer of any goods or
valuable thing, bought or sold note, or any other document used in
the ordinary course of business as proof of the possession or
control of goods, or authorising or purporting to authorise either
by endorsement or by delivery the possessor of such document to
transfer or receive any goods thereby represented or therein
mentioned or referred to:

The expression "document of title to lands" includes any deed, map,
roll, register, or instrument in writing being or containing evidence
of the title or any part of the title to any land or to any
interest in or arising out of any land, or any authenticated copy
thereof:

The expression "revenue paper" means any paper provided by the
proper authority for the purpose of being used for stamps, licences,
permits, ..., or for any purpose whatever connected with the public
revenue:

The expression "seal" includes any stamp or impression of a seal or
any stamp or impression made or apparently intended to resemble the
stamp or impression of a seal, as well as the seal itself:

The expression "stamp" includes a stamp impressed by means of a die
as well as an adhesive stamp:

Definition rep. by SLR 1966

The expression "valuable security" includes any writing entitling or
evidencing the title of any person to any share or interest in any
public stock, annuity, fund, or debt of any part of His Majesty's
dominions or of any foreign state, or in any stock, annuity, fund,
or debt of any body corporate, company, or society, whether within
or without His Majesty's dominions, or to any deposit in any bank,
and also includes any scrip, debenture, bill, note, warrant, order,
or other security for the payment of money [or any authority or
request for the payment of money or for the delivery or transfer
of goods or chattels], or any accountable receipt, release, or
discharge, or any receipt or other instrument evidencing the payment
of money, or the delivery of any chattel personal.

(2) References in this Act to any Act in force at the commencement
of this Act shall be held to include a reference to that Act as
amended, extended, or applied by any other Act.

(3) References in this Act to any Government department shall in
relation to any functions performed by that department be held to
include references to any other Government department by which the
same functions were previously performed.

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 19
Savings.

19.(1) Where an offence against this Act also by virtue of some
other Act subjects the offender to any forfeiture or
disqualification, or to any penalty other than ... imprisonment or
fine, the liability of the offender to punishment under this Act
shall be in addition to and not in substitution for his liability
under such other Act.

(2) Where an offence against this Act is by any other Act, whether
passed before or after the commencement of this Act, made punishable
on summary conviction, proceedings may be taken either under such
other Act or under this Act: Provided that where such an offence
was at the commencement of this Act punishable only on summary
conviction, it shall remain only so punishable.

S.20 rep. by SLR 1927

FORGERY ACT 1913 - SECT 22
Short title.

22. This Act may be cited as the Forgery Act, 1913 ...

Schedule rep. by SLR 1927