Documentary Forgeries

According to Article 26 of the Criminal Code, a document is any material medium that expresses or incorporates data, facts, or narratives with probative value or any type of legal relevance.

Document forgery is punishable by different penalties depending on the type of document being falsified.

First, the Criminal Code punishes falsification of public, official, and commercial documents through articles 390 to 394. Below, we define each of these types of documents:

1. Public documents are those authorized by a notary public in the exercise of their duties and in compliance with the formalities established by law. For example, public deeds authorized by a notary, certifications from the Property Registry, or judicial proceedings.
2. Official documents are those used or issued by public administrations in the performance of their duties and for the effective fulfillment of their purposes. Official documents include, among others, the national identity card (DNI), license plate, and vehicle registration certificate.
3. According to our Courts, commercial documents are understood to be both those that record a commercial transaction, reflecting the creation, alteration, or termination of commercial obligations, and those that certify transactions or activities occurring within a company (Supreme Court Ruling No. 208/2019). This broad definition of commercial documents includes checks, bills of exchange, invoices, delivery notes, and so on.

Regarding conduct considered criminal, on the one hand, Article 390 of the Criminal Code punishes public officials or authorities who commit any of the following falsifications in a public, official, or commercial document in the exercise of their functions with imprisonment of three to six years, a fine of six to 24 months, and special disqualification for two to six years:

1. Altering a document in any of its essential elements .
2. Simulating a document, in whole or in part, in such a way as to mislead as to its authenticity .
3. Assuming that people who did not have any involvement in an act, or attributing to people who have participated in said act statements that are different from those they actually made .
4. Failing to tell the truth in the narration of the facts .

The crime of document falsification is usually a wilful offense, but Article 391 of the Penal Code also penalizes its commission through gross negligence , provided that the perpetrator is an authority or public official. In this case, the penalty is a fine of 6 to 12 months and suspension from employment or public office for 6 months to 1 year.

On the other hand, Article 392 of the Criminal Code also punishes individuals who falsify public, official, or commercial documents , but only if they do so by altering a document in any of its essential elements, simulating a document in whole or in part, thereby misleading people about its authenticity, or assuming the involvement of unsuspecting individuals in an act. Thus, falsification committed by individuals in a public, official, or commercial document does not constitute a crime if it consists of failing to tell the truth in the recounting of the facts.

Private documents are those that are not public, official, or commercial. Falsification of this type of document is punishable by Article 396 of the Criminal Code, which applies to anyone who, in order to harm another, commits any of the falsifications indicated in the previous paragraph in a private document (altering a document in any of its essential elements, simulating a document in whole or in part, misleading people about its authenticity, or assuming the involvement of unsuspecting individuals in an act). This behavior is punishable by imprisonment of six months to two years.