The Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 (c 45) is an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

 of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It replaces the Forgery Act 1913

Forgery Act 1913

The Forgery Act 1913 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.This Act was repealed for England and Wales and Northern Ireland by section 30 of, and Part I of the Schedule to, the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981...

, the Coinage Offences Act 1936

Coinage Offences Act 1936

The Coinage Offences Act 1936 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which related to coinage offences. It was repealed by section 30 of, and Part II of the Schedule to, the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981....

 and parts of the Forgery Act 1861

Forgery Act 1861

The Forgery Act 1861 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It consolidated provisions related to forgery from a number of earlier statutes into a single Act. For the most part these provisions were, according to the draftsman of the Act, incorporated with...

. It implements recommendations made by the Law Commission in their report on forgery and counterfeit currency.

Part I - Forgery and kindred offences

Section 1 creates the offence of forgery

Forgery

Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...

.

Section 2 creates the offence of copying a false instrument.

Section 3 creates the offence of using a false instrument.

Section 4 creates the offence of using a copy of a false instrument.

Section 13 abolished the common law offence of forgery.

Part II - Counterfeiting and kindred offences

Section 27 defines the expressions "currency note" and "protected coin".

Protected coin

Section 27(1) provides that, in Part II of the Act, the expression "protected coin" means any coin which is customarily used as money in any country, or which is specified for the purposes of Part II in an order made by the Treasury

HM Treasury

HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

.

The following coins have been specified for the purposes of Part II:

• Sovereign
• Half sovereign
• Krugerrand
  Krugerrand
  The Krugerrand is a South African gold coin, first minted in 1967 to help market South African gold. The coin, produced by the South African Mint, proved popular and by 1980 the Krugerrand accounted for 90% of the gold coin market. The name itself is a compound of Kruger and rand, the South...
  
  
• Any coin denominated as a fraction of a Krugerrand.
• Maria Theresia thaler bearing the date of 1780.
• Any euro coin produced in accordance with Council Regulation No. 975/98/EC (OJ No. L139, 11.5.98, p. 6.) by or at the instance of a member state
  Member State of the European Union
  A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
  
   which has adopted the single currency
  Euro
  The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
  
   in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Orders made under this section

The power conferred on the Treasury by section 27(1) has been exercised by the following orders:

• The Forgery and Counterfeiting (Protected Coins) Order 1981 (S.I. 1981/505)
• The Forgery and Counterfeiting (Protected Coins) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/2095)

Part III - Miscellaneous and general

Section 29 amended section 63 of the Post Office Act 1953. It was repealed on 26 March 2001 by section 127(6) of, and Schedule 9 to, the Postal Services Act 2000

Postal Services Act 2000

The Postal Services Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, relating to the postal industry. It established an industry regulator, Postcomm , a consumer watchdog, Postwatch , required a "universal service" of post to be provided and set up rules for licensing postal services...

.

External links

• The Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, as amended from the National Archives.
• The Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981, as originally enacted from the National Archives.