Perjury

Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.

Definition

Perjury is the giving of false testimony under oath. The word comes from the Middle English periurie, which in turn comes from the Latin peririum. The Latin means betrayal of law. To be considered perjury, the false testimony must be relevant to the case. Perjury also does not necessarily occur if two witnesses give contradicting accounts of an event as people's memories can differ.

In a non-legal sense, perjury can also be the breach of a promise.

Legal Aspects

Perjury can have serious ramifications in the legal world. Though varying between legal systems, those convicted of perjury often face stiff penalties. Despite its potentially large impact, the number of prosecutions for perjury is small.

Perjury is considered a very serious crime as it could be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice. In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up to five years, and is found at 18 U.S.C. § 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. § 1746.

The rules for perjury also apply to witnesses who have affirmed they are telling the truth. Affirmation is used by a witness who is unable to swear to tell the truth. For example, in the United Kingdom a witness may swear on the Bible or other holy book. If a witness has no religion, or does not wish to swear on a holy book, the witness may make an affirmation he or she is telling the truth instead.

The rules for perjury also apply when a person has made a statement under penalty of perjury, even if the person has not been sworn or affirmed as a witness before an appropriate official. An example of this is the United States' income tax return, which, by law, must be signed as true and correct under penalty of perjury (see 26 U.S.C. § 6065). Federal tax law provides criminal penalties of up to three years in prison for violation of the tax return perjury statute. See 26 U.S.C. § 7206(1).

Statements of interpretation of fact are not perjury because people often make inaccurate statements unwittingly and not deliberately. Individuals may have honest but mistaken beliefs about certain facts or their recollection may be inaccurate. Like most other crimes in the common law system, to be convicted of perjury you have to have had the intention (the mens rea) to commit the act, and to have actually committed the act (the actus reus).

In some countries such as France, suspects cannot be heard under oath and thus do not commit perjury, whatever they say during their trial.

Perjury in Society

The possibility of perjury represents a serious threat to most legal systems in the world because of their foundation in the testimony of witnesses. Should this witness testimony be baseless, then civil and criminal decisions lose validity.

Perjury and Religion

Dishonesty is considered a sin in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, making perjury a crime in the eyes of religion as well as in the eyes of the law. Some view perjury as particularly bad because of the oath to God taken by those in a courtroom, the violation of which shows a disregard for faith unacceptable to the devout.

Famous Examples of Perjury

Famous persons who have been accused and convicted of perjury include:

• Jonathan Aitken, British politician, who was a member of John Major's cabinet, sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for perjury
• Jeffrey Archer, British novelist and politician, sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for perjury
• Alger Hiss, alleged Soviet spy who worked for the United States Department of State, sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for perjury and served 44 months.
• Lil' Kim, American Rapper.
• Dr. Cecil Jacobson, American fertility doctor.
• Chris Webber, NBA Rookie of the Year (1994), All-Star and former University of Michigan Wolverine, who admitted he received gifts and cash from a booster.

Famous individuals who have been accused of perjury include:

• Former U.S. President Bill Clinton was accused of perjury—and as a result was fined for contempt of court, agreed to be disbarred, and was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. The Senate rejected the perjury with 55 not-guilty votes and 45 guilty votes. No criminal charges were ever brought.
• Former Houston Police Chief C.O. Bradford - was indicted by Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal for alleged swearing at fellow Houston Police officers; perjury charge was dismissed due to the lack of evidence and/or fabricated charges.
• Lewis Libby, former advisor to Dick Cheney and a part of George W. Bush administration.
• Rafael Palmeiro faced perjury charges (but was never charged) for possible false testimony in front of Congress regarding steroid use in professional baseball.
• Barry Bonds, another American baseball player, has been accused of perjury in regards to his possible use of steroids.

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