(Photo: Magistrates at the Court of Auditors) – Algeria must have some serious problems with official document forgery. Analysts say the practice is widespread given the heavy bureaucratic nature of the outdated administration and the equally outdated regulatory framework. On 26 February 2024, Algeria sought to play catch up, promulgating a new law that goes the other way, that is now it has some of the harshest punishments for forgery.
In terms of sanctions, very severe prison sentences and heavy fines are provided for, in certain cases going as far as life imprisonment. The falsification of driver’s licenses, official certificates, booklets, cards, school bulletins, receipts, travel titles and documents, identity documents, residence documents or other documents issued by administrations is punishable by five to seven years in prison and up to DZD 700,000 in fine.
The forger is not the only one targeted by the new law. The recipient, that is the person who is issued one of these documents, also faces imprisonment of 3 to 5 years. If a civil servant is involved and knowingly issues them, he is punished with a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.
The authors of the new law argue that these legal instruments should go a long way in countering the informal economy and fighting tax evasion. They want to put an end to the practice of business operators’ use of falsified corporate registers to carry out parallel commercial transactions in order to hide their real turnover, to avoid paying taxes and other dues.
In the healthcare sector, medical certificates, scripts and any false declaration made by a doctor could lead to 3 to 5 years in prison. Similar punishments are codified in the law for those who falsify hotel registers or enter false information.
Irregularities in the execution of the accounts and budgets of the state, local authorities or public institutions could result in up to 10 years behind bars. Worse, forgery of public documents with false signature, alteration of writing, etc., is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, and if the forgery is committed by a magistrate, civil servant or public officer, the latter would get up to 30 years in prison.
The law also specifies similar outcomes for forgeries in the commercial, banking and financial sectors, as well as all other sectors where official documents are used, including in cases of identity theft.
But the heaviest penalty in the new law is provided for in cases of falsification of currency or securities issued by the Public Treasury. Those found guilty of such forgery would get life imprisonment. Counterfeiting the State Seal is also punishable by life imprisonment.
The law however introduces an interesting requirement: Article 8 of the new law stipulates that the presentation of official documents cannot be required by administrations when they can be obtained from other administrations through online systems, except when checks issued by public order or safety are required. Although the use of electronic interchanges make sense and are long overdue, it remains to be seen if Algerian bureaucracies have built the proper connectivity capabilities that would allow them to eliminate the old paper trails.
The billion dollar question now is about implementation. Does Algeria have enough legal assets to enforce the law? Could the law be used to crackdown on the political opposition? There are many unanswered questions, even if the spirit of the law means well.
