What happens when someone commits perjury?
ANYONE who’s ever had to rely on the testimony of others, whether in a criminal, civil or administrative proceeding, has probably felt the cold knife of panic and disgust slice through their gut as someone testified in a manner they considered untruthful.
Of course, many people can have many different interpretations of the same event, including some that seem wildly different than your recollection, simply because they had a different perspective.
But what happens when someone says something that is undeniably a lie?
Perjury is a criminal act that occurs when a person lies or makes statements that are not truthful while under oath. For example, if a person is asked to testify in a criminal proceeding and they are under oath but do not tell the truth, they can be charged with perjury if it’s discovered that they have lied.
By committing perjury, people take part in a miscarriage of justice and corrupt the legal process. Perjury is a very serious criminal offence, even though most people who lie under oath don’t consider it to be very serious.
When people commit perjury, they disrupt the legitimate discovery of truth. For this reason, people who are charged with perjury may face a variety of severe legal ramifications if they are convicted.
Some of these legal consequences may include having to spend time in jail, probation or paying fines to the court. It can also interfere with their ability to obtain employment or security clearance, as they will be convicted of a crime of dishonesty.
Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that perjury is very rarely charged against anyone who testifies unless the offence is egregious, because it is exceptionally difficult to show that someone intentionally lied about something unless their lie is so far afield that it is plain that the person is attempting to mislead the trier of fact.