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107: Contravention of statute
or “Breaking rules set by the government can lead to punishment”
You could also call this:

“Lying under oath in a legal setting is against the law.”

Perjury is when you lie on purpose in a legal setting. It happens when you’re a witness and you say something false about a fact, opinion, belief, or knowledge. You do this while under oath, which means you’ve promised to tell the truth. This can be in a courtroom, in a written statement, or in other ways. The important part is that you know what you’re saying isn’t true, and you’re trying to trick the people in charge of the legal process.

When we talk about an oath, we also mean when you make a formal promise to tell the truth, even if it’s not called an oath. This includes special statements allowed by section 13 of the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957.

Anyone who gives evidence is considered a witness for this rule. It doesn’t matter if they’re normally allowed to be a witness or if their evidence is usually accepted in court.

A legal process can be in many different places. It can be in a regular court, in the House of Representatives (where laws are made) or one of its committees. It can also be with a person or group that’s allowed to ask questions and take sworn evidence, or any place where legal rights or responsibilities are decided. This includes military courts and disciplinary officers working under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971.

Even if there’s something wrong with how the legal process was set up or started, or if it turns out to be invalid, it still counts as a legal process for this rule about perjury.

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Next up: 109: Punishment of perjury

or “Lying in court can get you into big trouble and might even land you in jail for a long time.”
Next

Part 6 Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice
Misleading justice

108Perjury defined

  1. Perjury is an assertion as to a matter of fact, opinion, belief, or knowledge made by a witness in a judicial proceeding as part of his or 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 or her to mislead the tribunal holding the proceeding.

  2. In this section the term oath includes an affirmation, and also includes a declaration made under section 13 of the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957.

  3. Every person is a witness within the meaning of this section who actually gives evidence, whether he or she is competent to be a witness or not, and whether his or her evidence is admissible or not.

  4. Every proceeding is judicial within the meaning of this section if it is held before any of the following tribunals, namely:

  5. any court of justice:
    1. the House of Representatives or any Committee of that House:
      1. any arbitrator or umpire, or any person or body of persons authorised by law to make an inquiry and take evidence therein upon oath:
        1. any legal tribunal by which any legal right or liability can be established:
          1. any person acting as a court or tribunal having power to hold a judicial proceeding:
            1. a disciplinary officer, the Summary Appeal Court of New Zealand, or the Court Martial of New Zealand acting under the Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971.

              1. Every such proceeding is judicial within the meaning of this section whether the tribunal was duly constituted or appointed or not, and whether the proceeding was duly instituted or not, and whether the proceeding was invalid or not.

              Compare
              • 1908 No 32 s 130
              Notes
              • Section 108(4)(f): replaced, on , by section 81 of the Armed Forces Discipline Amendment Act (No 2) 2007 (2007 No 98).