Section 138 Crimes Act | Stealing Destroying Records of Court or Public Office

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Section 138 of the Crimes Act is the offence of Stealing Destroying Records of Court or Public Office and is extracted below.

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The Legislation

Section 138 of the Crimes Act 1900 deals with the offence of ‘Stealing Destroying Records of Court or Public Office’ and reads as follows:

138 Stealing, destroying etc records etc of any court or public office

Whosoever steals, or for any fraudulent purpose, takes from its place of deposit, for the time being, or from any person having the lawful custody thereof, or unlawfully and intentionally or recklessly cancels, obliterates, injures, or destroys, the whole or any part, of any record, document, or writing, of, or belonging to, any Court, or relating to any matter or cause, civil or criminal, pending, or terminated, in any Court, or relating to the business of any office or employment under Her Majesty, and being in any public office, shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years.