Juridical Analysis of the Legal Implications of Ship Registration with False Documents Perspectives on Legal Certainty and Criminal Liability

Abstract

Ship registration is a crucial administrative process to determine the legal status, nationality, and proprietary rights of a vessel. However, in practice, the use of false documents to manipulate ship identity is often found to evade legal obligations or expedite bureaucratic processes. This research aims to analyze the qualification of the criminal act of document forgery in ship registration and its legal implications for legal certainty and criminal liability for the perpetrators. The research method used is normative legal research with a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The results show that the use of false documents in ship registration meets the elements of the offense in Articles 263 and 264 of the Criminal Code as a crime against the truth of authentic deeds and violates the criminal provisions in Law Number 17 of 2008 concerning Shipping. The legal implication of this act is that the ship registration becomes legally flawed and can be annulled by law (void ab initio), resulting in the loss of legal protection for the owner. Criminal liability does not only target individual perpetrators of forgery but can also be extended to corporations through the identification theory doctrine if proven to provide benefits to the legal entity. Strengthening the integration of digital document verification systems is required to ensure legal certainty in the maritime sector.