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Crimes Act 1961

Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice - Misleading justice

109: Punishment of perjury

You could also call this:

"Lying under oath can lead to prison time of up to 14 years."

Illustration for Crimes Act 1961

If you commit perjury, you can go to prison for up to 7 years. Perjury is when you lie under oath, which means you swear to tell the truth but you don't. You can be punished with imprisonment if you do this.

If you lie under oath to get someone in trouble for a serious crime, like one that has a punishment of 3 years or more in prison, you can go to prison for up to 14 years. This is a more serious punishment because you tried to get someone in big trouble by lying. The law takes this very seriously.

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Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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108: Perjury defined, or

"Lying under oath is called perjury, which means telling a false statement to deceive a court or legal process."

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

109Punishment of perjury

  1. Except as provided in subsection (2), every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who commits perjury.

  2. If perjury is committed in order to procure the conviction of a person for any offence for which the maximum punishment is not less than 3 years' imprisonment, the punishment may be imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.

Compare
  • 1908 No 32 s 131
Notes
  • Section 109(2): amended, on , by section 3(3) of the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 1989 (1989 No 119).