Start with duty, record and medical causation
A late entry, correction or template error is not necessarily deliberate falsification; authorship, timing and purpose matter.
Who created or altered the entry, when, through which account, and did it misrepresent a material clinical event?
Independent expertise should identify the applicable specialty standard and limitations; it should not be asked to declare criminal guilt.
The unaltered clinical record matters first
Native electronic audit logs, version history, paper originals, access credentials, signatures, backups and corresponding clinical data.
Clinical chronology
Reconstruct condition, decisions, interventions and response.
Individual duty
Distinguish practitioner, clinic, agency and executive roles.
Causation
Test competing medical explanations and legally assessed harm.
Articles that may enter the qualification
These provisions are orientation points, not a conclusion. An investigation may start under one article and later be narrowed, expanded or reclassified as facts, expert results, article parts, aggravating circumstances and procedural decisions develop.
Making, sale or use of a forged official document
The original document, method of alteration, intended use, knowledge and the role of the person who made or used it require separate proof.
Read full Article 362 text on this pageRead the relevant provisions before the external source
The operative English text below is reproduced from the official consolidated Criminal Code of Georgia, publication 296, accessed 9 August 2026. Formatting has been normalised for on-screen reading; the current Georgian-language consolidated text controls if wording or timing differs.
Article 362Making, sale or use of a forged document, seal, stamp or blank forms+
1. Making, purchase, storage for sale or use, sale or use of forged identity cards or other official documents, –
shall be punished by a fine or imprisonment for up to three years.
11. Forging data/information, and own signatures and the signatures of supporters, in relevant forms of the lists of supporters provided for by the Organic Law of Georgia – the Election Code of Georgia, own, as well as the signature of the supporter, –
shall be punished by a fine.
2. The act under paragraph 1 or paragraph 11 of this article:
a) committed repeatedly;
b) that has resulted in substantial damage, –
shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of three to six years.
Note:
1. This article shall not apply to a person who committed the above act before acquiring the status of a victim of human trafficking due to him/her being a victim of human trafficking.
2. For the act specified in this article a legal person shall be punished by a fine, with deprivation of the right to carry out activities, or by liquidation and a fine.
3. For committing an act provided for by this article (except for the act related to the sale of forged official documents, seals, stamps or blank forms), criminal liability shall not be applied to an alien or a stateless person who has entered Georgia directly from the territory where he/she was under a threat provided for by Articles 15(1), 19(1), 38(3), or 22(1) of the Law of Georgia on International Protection, if he/she immediately, at the first opportunity, appeared before a state authority, presented a proper explanation of his/her illegal entry into Georgia, and requested international protection under the said Law, unless his/her act contains elements of another crime.
4. If it is determined by the relevant final decision on international protection that a foreigner or a stateless person is not in need of international protection, the release from criminal liability provided for by paragraph 3 of this Note shall not apply.
Open Article 362 in the official consolidated Criminal Code↗︎How counsel turns the issue into a case plan
For forgery or alteration of medical records, counsel can identify the operative procedure and decision-maker, test the prosecution theory against each legal element, obtain lawful defence material, frame expert or disclosure requests, preserve objections and prepare the next motion, hearing or cross-border step. Advice must be based on the actual record rather than the page title alone.
Preserve the system and logs without opening records in a way that changes metadata.
Questions clients ask about forgery or alteration of medical records
Does Article 362 — Making, sale or use of a forged official document — automatically apply to Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records?+
For Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records, Article 362 may provide a starting point, but a page title is not a legal qualification. Investigators and prosecutors must match proved facts to every element, part and aggravating circumstance. The qualification may be narrowed, expanded or changed after expert results, new evidence, a defence motion, prosecutorial review or a court decision. The original document, method of alteration, intended use, knowledge and the role of the person who made or used it require separate proof.
Which factual boundary is decisive in a Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records case?+
In a Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records case, the evidence must distinguish a criminal act from an adverse outcome, clinical judgment, regulatory breach or contractual dispute. That boundary is tested through the person's individual conduct, knowledge or intent, the legally classified consequence and every circumstance relied upon to move the allegation into a different article or aggravated part.
What evidence can prove—or undermine—the allegation of Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records?+
The focused record for Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records is not the same as for every offence. Priority material includes the complete unaltered clinical record, consent, audit trails, samples, protocols, payments and independent expertise. The defence should test provenance, completeness, authorship, lawful collection, chain of custody and whether each item proves the disputed element rather than merely repeating the accusation.
Can the article or charge for Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records change after the investigation starts?+
Yes. For Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records, Article 362 may be a starting map, but expert results, quantity or value, injury classification, individual role, attempt or participation, a defence application, prosecutorial review or a court decision may support a different article, part or legal outcome.
What should be preserved immediately in a Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records matter?+
In a Forgery or Alteration of Medical Records matter, preserve the original chronology, procedural records and the topic-specific material before routine loss or alteration. Early advice is important because records, samples and device logs need preservation before positions or systems change; preservation must be lawful and must not involve hiding, changing or coordinating evidence.
Primary sources for this guide
Legislation can change and official English translations may lag the Georgian text. Check the current consolidated version and obtain advice before relying on a deadline, offence classification or remedy.
Official consolidated Criminal Code — current text & PDF↗︎Law on Health Care↗︎Law on Patient Rights↗︎