Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against rights of property - Forgery and counterfeiting

255: Interpretation

You could also call this:

“This explains what important words mean in the law about fake money and documents.”

In this part of the law, you’ll learn about some important words and what they mean when it comes to forgery and counterfeiting.

A bank note is a special type of money that you can use to buy things. It can be made by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, banks in other countries, or governments of other countries. Sometimes, other groups that are allowed to make money can also make bank notes.

A false document is a paper or record that isn’t real or has been changed in a way that’s not allowed. Here are some ways a document can be false:

It might look like someone made it, but they didn’t. Or it might seem like it was made by a person who doesn’t even exist.

It could appear to be made by or for someone who didn’t actually make it or ask for it to be made. Or it might look like it’s for a made-up person.

Someone might have changed parts of it, like adding or removing words, and then pretended that someone else made those changes when they didn’t.

It could be a copy of another document, but it looks like it was made by someone who didn’t actually make it or allow it to be made.

Lastly, it could be a document that someone made, either themselves or with permission, but they want it to look like someone else made it when they didn’t.

These definitions help explain what the law means in sections 256 and 263 of this act.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM330438.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal law

254: Qualified exemption to access without authorisation offence for Government Communications Security Bureau, or

“ The law used to let some government spies look at computers without permission, but this rule was taken away. ”

256: Forgery, or

“Making fake documents to trick people or get something valuable is against the law.”

Part 10 Crimes against rights of property
Forgery and counterfeiting

255Interpretation

For the purposes of this section and sections 256 and 263,—
bank note means any negotiable instrument used or intended for use as currency and issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, or by any bank in any country other than New Zealand, or by the Government of any such country, or by any other authority authorised by law to issue notes
false document means a document—
1. of which the whole or any material part purports to be made by any person who did not make it, or by a fictitious person; or
2. of which the whole or any material part purports to be made by or on behalf of any person who did not authorise its making, or on behalf of a fictitious person; or
3. of which the whole or any material part has been altered, whether by addition, insertion, deletion, obliteration, erasure, removal, or otherwise, and that purports to have been altered by or on behalf of a person who did not alter it or authorise its alteration, or by or on behalf of a fictitious person; or
4. that is, in whole or in part, a reproduction of any other document, and that purports to have been made by or on behalf of a person who did not make it or authorise its making, or by or on behalf of a fictitious person; or
5. that is made in the name of a person, either by that person or by that person's authority, with the intention that it should pass as being made by some other person who did not make it, or by a fictitious person.

Compare

1961 No 43 s 263

Notes

Section 255: replaced, on 1 October 2003, by section 15 of the Crimes Amendment Act 2003 (2003 No 39).