Introduction

Matrix organization

Mergers by absorption

Risks related to the expansion of the scope of criminal liability of legal entities

Validity conditions

Proof of delegation

Exemption from individual liability of delegator

Attribution of offense to legal entity

Delegations of authority

Criminal risk management within business organizations

Complicity in crimes against humanity

Breaches of secrecy

Personal data breaches

Theft

Extortion

Blackmail

Fraud

Misappropriation

Receiving/concealment of unlawfully obtained property (recel)

Attacks on automated data processing systems

Money laundering

Misappropriation by public official (concussion)

Corruption and influence peddling

Unlawful acquisition of an interest

Favoritism

Forgery and use of forgeries

Violation of Criminal Code

Offenses under the Monetary and Financial Code

Offenses under the Commercial Code

Environmental Code violations

Offenses arising from other codes

Types of offenses

Offenses under the Criminal Code, the Commercial Code, or the Environmental Code, Criminal procedure

White Collar Crime (en cours)

The offense of use of a forgery, like the offense of forgery, involves the alteration of the truth in a document, and both offenses can be committed by the same person. However, the Court of Cassation considers that the two offenses are distinct and autonomous. Indeed, the person who uses a falsified document is punishable even if they are not the author of the forgery or if the author is unknown  …

Use of forgeries

The offense of use of a forgery, like the offense of forgery, involves the alteration of the truth in a document, and both offenses can be committed by the same person. However, the Court of Cassation considers that the two offenses are distinct and autonomous. Indeed, the person who uses a falsified document is punishable even if they are not the author of the forgery or if the author is unknown , or even acquitted, on the grounds that the forgery is time-barred, while the civil party alleges the use of forgery .

Unlike the offense of forgery, only a positive act can characterize the materiality of the use of forgery. The offense is constituted as soon as the defendant has given instructions for the forged document to be created and then delivered to a third party . Acts qualified as positive use include the transfer to a bank of commercial claims that turn out to be non-existent , the production of an inaccurate certificate stating the existence of a false lawyer collaboration activity in support of an application for registration on the list of legal advisors , the submission of a form to a school containing false information about a minor , the production in court of a forgery, whether this production was spontaneous or carried out in execution of a court decision , the submission by a company bidding for a public contract of a false URSAFF certificate to avoid losing the contract , the use of a deed of transfer of shares and the minutes of the general meeting falsely endorsing the transfer of all shares and the resignation of the co-manager of the company , the transmission to the commercial register of a certificate falsely indicating that one company rents commercial premises to another , and more generally, the act of submitting a false document to a public administration that may be enforceable against third parties .

On the other hand, it does not constitute a positive act to voluntarily leave a false financial guarantee of good completion in the possession of a notary so that he can assess the file in its entirety  or to voluntarily allow a third party to produce loan agreements in court bearing a forged signature , as culpable inaction alone is not sufficient to constitute the offense of using forgeries.

Cass. crim., 5 March 1990, LawLex202200010736JBJ.

Cass. crim., 14 October 1991, LawLex202300003327JBJ.

Cass. crim., 11 December 1974, LawLex202200010602JBJ; 1 June 2023, LawLex202400005262JBJ, submission of falsified memos in a labor tribunal procedure; 25 October 2023, LawLex202400005256JBJ, submission of a forged will during a judicial liquidation procedure.

Cass. crim., 12 January 2022, LawLex202200010389JBJ.

Cass. crim., 4 November 2010, LawLex202200010599JBJ.

Cass. crim., 16 May 1994, LawLex202200010328JBJ, which specifies that the fact that the document exaggerating the value of the defendant's contribution was transmitted to the auditor by another company executive is irrelevant.

Cass. crim., 28 May 1997, LawLex202200010732JBJ.

Cass. crim., 23 May 1995, LawLex202200010392JBJ.

Cass. crim., 6 January 2021, LawLex202200010390JBJ.

Cass. crim., 3 May 2012, LawLex202200010601JBJ; 16 February 1977, LawLex202200010600JBJ.

Cass. crim., 7 May 2024, LawLex202400003607JBJ.

Cass. crim., 11 December 2013, LawLex202200010747JBJ.

Cass. crim., 23 February 2022, LawLex202200009627JBJ.

White Collar Crime (en cours)

164. Use of forgeries

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

164. Use of forgeries

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise