{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/equality-act-2010/section-188",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/equality-act-2010/section-188.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2010/15",
  "legislation_title": "Equality Act 2010",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/equality-act-2010",
  "path": "section/188",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "188",
  "heading": "Forgery, etc.",
  "text": "(1) In this section “relevant document” means—\n(a) an exemption certificate issued under section 166, 169 or 171;\n(b) a notice of a kind mentioned in section 166(3)(b), 169(4)(b) or 171(4)(b);\n(c) an accessibility certificate (see section 176);\n(d) an approval certificate (see section 177).\n(2) A person commits an offence if, with intent to deceive, the person—\n(a) forges, alters or uses a relevant document;\n(b) lends a relevant document to another person;\n(c) allows a relevant document to be used by another person;\n(d) makes or has possession of a document which closely resembles a relevant document.\n(3) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) is liable—\n(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;\n(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.\n(4) A person commits an offence by knowingly making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining an accessibility certificate or an approval certificate.\n(5) A person guilty of an offence under subsection (4) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/section/188",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:10:05.794452+00:00",
    "licence": "OGL-UK-3.0",
    "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
    "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
  }
}