{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-268",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016/section-268.json",
  "legislation": "nia/2016/18",
  "legislation_title": "Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/mental-capacity-act-northern-ireland-2016",
  "path": "section/268",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "268",
  "heading": "Forgery, false statements etc",
  "text": "(1) A person commits an offence if the person—\n(a) makes, in a relevant document, an entry or statement which is false; and\n(b) does so knowing that the entry or statement is false or being reckless as to whether it is false.\n(2) A person commits an offence if—\n(a) with intent to deceive, the person makes use of an entry or statement in a relevant document;\n(b) the entry or statement is false; and\n(c) the person knows it to be false.\n(3) In this section “relevant document” means any of the following—\n(a) a statement of incapacity for the purposes of section 13;\n(b) a relevant certificate (as defined by section 18) for the purposes of section 16 or 17 (second opinions);\n(c) a report under section 39 or any provision of Schedule 1, 2 or 3 (medical reports etc);\n(d) an application under Schedule 1, an authorisation granted by a panel under that Schedule, or an extension by a panel of such an authorisation;\n(e) an application under paragraph 4 of Schedule 4 (application for registration of lasting power of attorney);\n(f) a report under any provision of Part 10 (criminal justice).\n(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—\n(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;\n(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine or both.\n(5) The Department may by regulations amend subsection (3).",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 268(1)(2)(3)(a)(c)(d)(4)(5) in operation at 2.12.2019 for specified purposes by S.R. 2019/163, art. 2(4), Sch. Pt. 4 (with art. 3) (as amended by S.R. 2019/190, art. 2)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2016/18/section/268",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T20:19:54.781348+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "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."
}