Document offense

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The Urkundsdelikte include those forgery in the right-hand traffic ( §§ 267-282 StGB ) which are regulated in the section 23 of the Criminal. The legal interest that document offenses generally protect is the security and reliability of legal transactions. The document offenses do not include money and stamp forgery offenses ( Sections 146–152a StGB), the protection of which affects monetary transactions and at the same time the fiscal stability of the state. Since counterfeiting of money and stamps also includes items that are not of document quality, it must be examined in individual cases whether the offenses against forgery of documents can be considered as catching offenses for the other offenses against forgery.

System of documentary offenses

The offenses in the area of ​​forgery of documents are offenses . Anyone who, as a member of a gang, commits forgery of documents on a commercial basis is guilty of a crime ( Section 267 (4) StGB). The document offenses often occur in connection with other property or property offenses such as fraud , theft and damage to property . The offenses mentioned in this area are:

  1. the forgery of documents in the strict sense ( § 267 )
  2. the falsification of technical records ( Section 268 )
  3. the falsification of evidence-relevant data ( Section 269 )
  4. the deception in legal relations in data processing ( § 270 )
  5. the indirect false certification ( § 271 )
  6. the change of official identification ( § 273 )
  7. the suppression of documents ( § 274 )
  8. the preparation for forging official ID cards ( Section 275 )
  9. the procuring of false official documents of identification ( § 276 )
  10. the falsification of health certificates ( § 277 )
  11. the issuing incorrect health certificates ( § 278 )
  12. the use of incorrect health certificates ( § 279 )
  13. the misuse of identity documents ( § 281 )
  14. the false certification in office ( § 348 )

Document offenses pursue three different directions of protection:

→ the protection of the authenticity of the document;

→ the protection of the substantive truth of the document;

→ the protection of the existence of the document;

The offenses are systematically arranged in an unfortunate way, because the individual offenses sometimes pursue several directions of protection in different offense variants, which can only be determined through interpretation. The legislature has refrained from summarizing the individual criminal offenses according to their protection. In addition, the qualification facts and privileges are not spatially identifiable with the basic facts .

Authenticity of a document

Only the authenticity of a document is comprehensively protected within the framework of § 267 Paragraph 1 Var. 1 StGB. A document is authentic when the embodied explanation of thought comes spiritually from the person from whom it is represented. A certificate is not authentic if it does not originate from the person who is the issuer of it. Who formally notarizes the declaration (e.g. the notary, consul, registrar) does not matter.

In order to protect legal transactions from being misled about the identity of the exhibitor, the use of false documents is also punishable ( Section 267, Paragraph 1, Var. 3 StGB). Because of the significantly lower range of penalties, the use of incorrect health certificates according to Section 279 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Section 277 of the Criminal Code, insofar as a false document is used ( Section 277 alternative 1 StGB), is therefore a privilege to Section 267, Paragraph 1, Var. 3 StGB.

Falsification of initially correct documents

Legal transactions are only fully protected against the falsification of an initially correct document ( Section 267, Paragraph 1, Var. 2 StGB) and against the use of a forged document ( Section 267, Paragraph 1, Var. 3, StGB). The use of falsified health certificates according to § 279 StGB in connection with § 277 Alt. 2 StGB is privileged to § 267 Abs. 1 Var. 3 StGB.

Initially false documents

Legal transactions are not protected against initially false documents in the same way as against falsification of initially correct documents.

Issuing false documents

The issuance of a document that is wrong from the outset is generally not covered by the document offenses. It should be noted that the issuing of a document with incorrect content can often be seen as the creation of a false document (for example, in the case of forging an authorization card or a ticket for a transport company), which is punished in the context of forging documents.

When issuing a document with incorrect content, something else only applies to some documents that have been recorded in the prescribed form by an authority within the limits of their official powers or by a person with public faith within the business group assigned to them (public document, § 415 ZPO ). The criminal liability for the issuing of public documents with incorrect content is provided for, for example, in the case of false certification in the office ( § 348 StGB) and the issuing of incorrect health certificates by medical personnel ( § 278 StGB). In order to be able to punish perpetrators who misuse unsuspecting officials as tools for false certification of public documents, indirect false certification ( Section 271 of the Criminal Code) has also been introduced.

Use of false documents

The use of a document that is initially incorrect in terms of content is also generally unpunished. It should be noted here that in very many cases, false documents are also false documents (for example in the case of forged authorization cards, passports or tickets). The use of (false and) false documents is punishable as forgery of documents. In addition, a document with false content is often used for purposes of deception, so that criminal liability for fraud can also be considered.

In the case of official IDs, residence documents, vehicle documents and health certificates, the Criminal Code regards the mere use of (genuine) documents with incorrect content as a criminal offense. In the case of initially incorrect health certificates, according to § 279 StGB in conjunction with § 278 StGB, any use that is made with the intention of deceiving an insurance company or authority about his or another state of health will be punished. The import and export, the procuring, procedure or surrender of an identity card, residence permit or vehicle document which was initially incorrect in content through false authentication in the office or indirect false authentication, with the intention of enabling its further use in order to deceive legal transactions, will also be punished ( Section 276 , Section 276a  StGB).

Existence of a certificate

Concerning the protection of the existence of a document, the destruction, damage or suppression of documents in which the perpetrator does not have the sole right to use (“hear”) them as evidence is punishable (document suppression, Section 274 (1) No. 1 StGB ). The suppression of documents violates someone else's authority to provide evidence. The destruction, damage or suppression of a document belonging to the perpetrator is generally unpunished. The use of damaged documents is also unpunished. In order to close serious gaps in the criminal liability of official ID cards, changing official ID cards to deceive legal transactions has generally been made a criminal offense ( Section 273 of the Criminal Code).

Others

The misuse of identification documents according to § 281 StGB, however, does not affect the authenticity, the truth of the content or the substantial existence of a document. It is intended to punish a deception of legal transactions by an unauthorized person using an identity card, certificate or other document that is used as identification.

Section 275 of the Criminal Code already punishes preparatory acts to forge official IDs.

See also

literature

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  1. ↑ Wessels / Hettinger Strafrecht BT / 1 marginal no. 789
  2. ↑ § 279 StGB in connection with § 277 StGB punishes the use of false or falsified documents and is therefore a privilege to § 267 StGB.