Perjury Flashcards
Perjury
A WITNESS MAKING ANY
Witness- a person who gives evidence and is able to be cross examined in a proceeding. Includes a person actively engaged in giving evidence, someone who was previously given evidence and a person who will give evidence.
ASSERTION AS TO ANY MATTER OF FACT, OPINION, BELIEF OR KNOWLEDGE
Assertion - something declared or stated positively, often with no support or attempt made as furnishing evidence or proof of the assertions accuracy.
Matter of fact - a particular kind of information. A fact is a thing done, an actual occurrence or event and it is presented during court proceedings in the form of witness testimony and evidence.
Opinion - S4 of the evidence act - a statement of opinion that tends to prove or disprove a fact. Only admissible if S24 of the evidence act applies. A witness may sate opinion in evidence in a proceeding if that opinion is necessary to enable the witness to communicate or the fact finder to understand.
Belief - belief is essentially a subjective feeling regarding the validity of an idea or set of facts. Having faith in an idea or formulating an conclusion.
Knowledge - the belief must be a correct one, where the belief is wrong a person cannot know something. Free from doubt.
IN ANY JUDICIAL PROCEEDING
Giving evidence is a proceeding by way of audio visual link from another country is still perjury in NZ.
FORMING PART OF THAT WITNESS’S EVIDENCE ON OATH
Oath - declaration before a person which invokes some religious belief and says that a thing is true or right.
Affirmation - verbal or written declaration saying that a thing is true or right without reference to religious belief.
Declaration - a witness under 12 years old may make a declaration which is a promise to tell the truth.
KNOWN BY THAT WITNESS TO BE FALSE AND
The accused knows the statement to be false.
Corroboration required - there must be corroboration in relation to perjury as per S121 (1) (a)
INTENDED TO MISLEAD THE TRIBUNAL
The offence of perjury is complete as the time the false evidence is given accompanied by an intention to mislead the tribunal. There is no defence where the witness later recants and informs the tribunal of the falsity of the earlier evidence.
Examples of misleading justice
- preventing a witness from testifying
- wilfully going absent as a witness
- threatening or bribing witnesses
- concealing the fact an offence has been committed
- intentionally giving police false information to obstruct their inquiries
- supplying false information to a probation officer
- assisting a wanted person to leave the country
- arranging a false alibi
- threatening or bribing jury members.
investigative procedure
- Conspiring to defeat the course of justice encompasses both civil and criminal proceedings.
- It is no defense to a charge of conspiring to defeat the course of justice that the aim of the offender was to secure a just result, or one they believed was right.
- In situations where you are unable to establish a conspiracy pursuant to section 116, the evidence may reveal a wilful attempt to obstruct, prevent, pervert or defeat the course of justice subject to section 117.
- You may only commence a prosecution for perjury (civil or criminal), where it is recommended by the courts or you are directed to do so by the Commissioner of Police. You may, however, begin inquiries into an allegation of perjury without reference to the court or Commissioner of Police.
- Complaints of perjury can arise in two ways:
~An individual may complain that someone has perjured themselves.
~A Judge may state or direct in a court recommendation that the police undertake inquiries into the truth of the evidence given by a witness.
Misleading Justice Summary
The evidence of a witness requires corroboration in some material particular that implicates a defendant before a conviction for perjury or an offence under s110 or s111 can be recorded.
Where there is no corroborating evidence of perjury, the judge must stop the case at the close of the prosecution case and direct an acquittal.
A witness is a person who gives evidence and is subject to cross-examination in proceedings. The term includes people actively engaged in giving evidence, people who have previously given evidence or people who will give evidence.
Examples of conspiring or attempting to mislead justice within sections 116 and 117 may include:
- preventing a witness from testifying.
- wilfully going absent as a witness.
- threatening or bribing witnesses.
- concealing the fact an offence has been committed.
- intentionally giving police false information to obstruct their inquiries.
- supplying false information to probation officers.
- arranging a false alibi.
- threatening or bribing jury memebers.
Conspiring to defeat the course of justice encompasses both civil and criminal proceedings.
You may only start a prosecution for perjury (civil or criminal), where it is the recommended by the courts or you are directed to do so by the Commissioner of Police. You may, however, begin inquiries into an allegation of perjury without reference to the court or Commissioner of Police.
