Thesis:

Study of the Developments Governing the Crimes of Document Forgery in Iranian Criminal Law

The crime of forgery is one of the crimes that has existed in many societies since ancient times and since the emergence of writing and documents. In recent decades, it has also expanded due to the progress of science and technology, and has gone beyond the level of traditional forgery and is carried out using tools such as computers. In this study, we have examined the developments governing the crimes of document forgery in Iranian criminal laws using a descriptive-analytical method. The results show that the crime of document forgery has always been an important issue in Iranian criminal laws, and the developments in the laws related to it indicate a change in approaches and intensification of penalties in dealing with this crime. Initially, forgery of official and ordinary documents had relatively similar penalties, but as time passed and the importance of official documents increased, the laws moved towards intensifying the punishment for forgery of official documents and separating the penalties based on the type of document. Also, in the new laws, the crime of forging unofficial documents is recognized as a forgivable crime, while forging official documents is still among the unforgivable crimes. In the past, the punishment for forging official and unofficial documents did not differ much, but in the new laws, forging official documents has heavier penalties due to its greater importance and impact. With the passage of the law on reducing the penalty for imprisonment, forging unofficial documents has been transformed from an unforgivable crime to a forgivable one. This means that if the plaintiff does not file a complaint or consent within the prescribed period, the prosecution of the defendant will be stopped. In the new laws, more severe penalties have been considered for government employees and officials who commit forging official documents than for other individuals. With the advancement of technology and the increase in online interactions, document-related crimes have also increased, and the legislator has tried to prevent these crimes by increasing the penalties. Overall, the evolution of Iran's criminal laws regarding forging documents indicates the legislator's greater attention to the importance of official documents and the need to seriously confront this crime. However, attention to the rights of the accused and the need to compensate the victims for the damages caused are also important points in these laws. Keywords: Crime, forgery of documents, Iranian criminal laws.

Keywords: Crime, forgery of documents, Iranian criminal laws