forgery of an official document; falsification of public records
Legal term for the crime of creating or altering an official document with intent to deceive. Used in statutes and formal contexts.
He was indicted for forgery of an official document.
Forgery of official documents is severely punished under the criminal law.
文書偽造 is a broader term for document forgery in general, while 公文書偽造 specifically refers to forgery of official or public documents.
私文書偽造 is forgery of private documents, as opposed to 公文書偽造 which deals with public or official documents.
Compound of 公文書 (official document) and 偽造 (forgery). The term is a direct legal classification.