Perjury

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Table of Contents
2
Overview
3
Introduction
3
Definitions
3
Perjury
4
Judicial proceeding
4
Examples
4
Oath
4
Witness
4
Related information
4
The law
6
Offence ingredients
6
Case law
6
Historic case law on charging (references to "indictment", which would now be relevant to the filing of charges per charging documents)
6
Power
7
Procedures for investigating perjury
8

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Overview
Introduction
Perjury refers to a witness in a judicial proceeding who, having been lawfully sworn in or having affirmed, knowingly and
wilfully makes false statements. See also the full definition below.
This chapter:
explains the offence of perjury
provides some definitions and case law
details how to investigate alleged perjury offences.
Definitions
This table defines some terms relevant to this chapter.
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Term
Definition
Perjury is an assertion as to a matter of fact, opinion, belief, or knowledge made by a witness in a judicial
Perjury
proceeding as part of his/her evidence on oath, whether the evidence is given in open Court or by affidavit or
otherwise, that assertion being known to the witness to be false and being intended by him/her to mislead the
tribunal holding the proceeding.
s108(1) Crimes Act 1961
A proceeding is judicial within the meaning of perjury if it is held before any of the following tribunals:
Judicial
proceeding
any court of justice, or
the House of Representatives or any committee of that house, or
any arbitrator or umpire, or any person or body of persons authorised by law to make an enquiry and take
evidence therein on oath, or
any legal tribunal by which any legal right or liability can be established, or
any person acting as a court or tribunal having power to hold a judicial proceeding, or
a disciplinary officer, the Summary Appeal Court of New Zealand, any court martial held under the Armed
Forces Discipline Act 1971.
s108(4) Crimes Act 1961
Note: Every such proceeding is judicial within the meaning of this section whether:
the tribunal was duly constituted or appointed or not
the proceeding was duly instituted or not
the proceeding was invalid or not.
s108(5) Crimes Act 1961
Examples
Examples of judicial proceedings include:
The examination of a bankrupt under oath by the Official Assignee (R v Mantell [1960] NZLR 624).
A proceeding before a licensing committee (Cock v Attorney-General (1909) 28 NZLR 405).
In this chapter the term oath includes an affirmation, and also includes a declaration made under section 13 of
Oath
the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957.
s108(2) Crimes Act 1961
Every person is a witness within the meaning of this section who actually gives evidence, whether he is
Witness
competent to be a witness or not, and whether his evidence is admissible or not.
s108(3) Crimes Act 1961
Related information
See the following sections in the Crimes Act 1961 related to misleading justice:
s109 Punishment of perjury
s110 False oaths
s111 False statements or declarations
s112 Evidence of perjury, false oath or false statement
s113 Fabricating evidence
s114 Use of purported affidavit or declaration
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Perjury
s115 Conspiring to bring false accusation
s116 Conspiring to defeat justice
s117 Corrupting juries and witnesses.
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The law
Perjury is an offence under section 108(1) of the Crimes Act 1961.
Offence ingredients
Under section 108 of the Crimes Act 1961 you must prove:
the identity of the witness who has become a suspect for perjury
an assertion by the witness as to:
a matter of fact, or
an opinion, or
a belief, or
knowledge
assertion made in a judicial proceeding
as part of their evidence on oath:
whether in open court, or by affidavit, or otherwise
knowledge by witness that the assertion was false
intention by the witness to mislead the tribunal holding the proceeding.
No one can be convicted of perjury on the evidence of only one witness, unless that evidence is corroborated in some
material particular by evidence implicating the defendant - section 112 of the Crimes Act 1961.
Case law
To be guilty of perjury a witness must make a wilfully false statement in respect of an issue which the witness believes is a
material issue in the proceeding – R v Goodyear-Smith HC Auckland T332/92, 26 July 1993.
The alleged false evidence must be proved literally or substantially as it is alleged in the indictment - Leefe (1809) 2 Camp
134. (Please note, the same approach ought to be applicable in proving charges in the absence of indictments post Criminal
Procedure Act implementation).
The fact that a defendant previously made statements that were inconsistent with his or her sworn evidence at the trial is
not sufficient to prove perjury - R v Cleland (1901) 20 NZLR 509.
If there is no corroboration, the judge must stop the case at the close of the prosecution and direct an acquittal - R v
Baskerville (1916) 2 KB 658.
Judges of inferior courts can be called on to prove what the accused said, but judges of the High Court should not - Harvey
(1858) 8 Cox CC 99 and Gazard (1838) 8 C & P 595.
Production by a judge’s associate of a full record of the evidence spoken is proof - Taylor v Manu [1975] 1 NZLR 285.
A shorthand typist who took the notes at a hearing was permitted to give evidence, refreshing her memory from the notes
of evidence and producing the whole transcript if need be. The shorthand notes and the transcript made from them were
admissible as evidence notwithstanding that they could be regarded as an extension of the judge’s own notes, but were
subject to a direction that they could not be independent confirmatory evidence of what was said - R v Mills [1984] 2 NZLR
92.
Historic case law on charging (references to "indictment", which would now be relevant to the
filing of charges per charging documents)
The indictment need not set out the precise words used; it need only state their substance and effect. Where false
evidence was given in Welsh, the defendant was properly charged on the basis of the English translation - Thomas (1850) 2
C & K 806.
Two or more people can be charged under one indictment, but only one charge can be stated in each count - R v Assim
[1966] 2 QB 249; [1966] 2 All ER 881 (CA).
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Power
You can arrest without warrant under section 315(2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
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Procedures for investigating perjury
An investigation occurs when a person complains that someone has committed perjury, or a judge recommends that Police
make enquiries into the truth of a witness’ evidence.
You cannot begin a prosecution unless a court recommends it or the Commissioner of Police directs it. The Commissioner’s
approval for prosecution has been delegated to Legal Advisers so the file, once investigated, should be sent to the Legal
Service Centre who will review the file to ensure that sufficient corroboration exists to justify prosecution.
Note: There is no such constraint on commencing an investigation. In the first instance, if unsure, consult with your Legal
Adviser.
When a person makes a complaint, follow these steps.
Step Action
1
Interview the complainant and:
find out what evidence there is that the evidence given was false, and how the complainant knew it was false
take a statement.
2
Obtain a transcript of the evidence, the judge’s notes, the formal statements and any relevant documentary exhibits.
Interview the court stenographer and obtain their original shorthand notes/audio/TV recording in case they are
required for reference.
3
Establish that the proceeding was judicial.
4
Interview the court clerk and obtain proof that an oath, affirmation or declaration was administered to the suspect.
Any deficiency in the administering may invalidate your case.
5
Interview the other witnesses and take statements from them to corroborate, qualify or eliminate the allegations.
6
Interview the suspect and find out whether they:
knew the evidence was false
intended to mislead the tribunal.
7
If, when your enquiries are complete, you have established a case which you assess as meeting the Test for
Prosecution in the Solicitor General’s Prosecution Guidelines:
put a ‘Brief of Evidence’ from each witness in the file
prepare draft charges
submit a report, recommending that the file be sent to the Legal Service Centre to authorise a prosecution.
Version number:
6
Owner:
Director: Criminal Investigations
Publication date:
24/02/2020
Last modified:
24/02/2020
Review date:
24/02/2026
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Perjury
Printed on : 03/05/2021
Printed from : https://tenone.police.govt.nz/pi/perjury
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Document Outline