The Gazette 1975

FALSE WITNESS

HUNTER REPORT ON PERJURY (1973)

FOR "JUSTICE"

S UMMARY OF RECOMMENDAT I ONS

Substantive law

1. For the purposes of the Perjury Act, or any

amendment to it, judicial proceedings should

include proceedings before an administrative

tribunal (paras. 24-27).

2. Materiality should cease to be a constituent

element of the offence of perjury, but should be

a factor to be taken into account in a decision to

prosecute and in the sentencing process (paras.

28-31).

3. The

mens

rea

of perjury should require the

making of a false statement with the intention

that it be taken as true, and this requirement

should be satisfied by recklessness (paras. 32-34).

4. The requirement of corroboration should be

retained for prosecution for perjury in judicial

proceedings and it should take the form of

independent evidence (paras. 38-42).

5. Corroboration should not be required in relation

to offences committed outside judicial proceed-

ings (para. 37).

6. Self-contradiction should constitute perjury, but

not necessarily where a witness had corrected

his earlier false evidence ((paras. 43-47).

7. The defence of duress to a charge of perjury

should be made more flexible (paras. 50 and 51).

8. A corporation, through a director, secretary or

other official responsible for the policy of the

company, should be capable of

committing

perjury (paras. 52-55).

9. Consideration should be given to the possibility

of devising sanctions against the person who

wilfully provides false information knowing that

it is to be used in a sworn affidavit in judicial

proceedings (paras. 56-61).

Prevention and discouragement

10. The oath or affirmation should be administered

by the judge or chairman of the Bench who

should satisfy himself that the witness under-

stands its implications (para. 71).

11. Consideration should be given to other ways of

impressing on witnesses the importance of the

oath (para. 72).

12. The existing oath, affirmation and statutory

declaration should all be abolished and replaced

by one simple non-religious promise or declara-

tion, which should include a statement by the

witness that he is aware that he is liable to be

prosecuted if he does not tell the truth or

wilfully misleads the Court (para. 77).

13. Within the limits of the adversary procedure,

Courts should do everything in their power to

see that witnesses provide all the relevant and

admissible evidence within their

knowledge

paras. 73-76)).

14. Solicitors and counsel must in all cases accept

that they have an overriding duty to try to

ensure that the witnesses they call shall not

knowingly and deliberately give false evidence to

the Court (para. 83).

15. Prosecuting counsel should be under a legal

obligation to disclose to the defence statements

taken from witnesses which are helpful to the

defence (para. 84).

16. Judges and magistrates should be more vigilant

than they are to note and call attention to false

evidence given in the course of trial proceedings

and to send the papers to the Director of Public

Prosecutions (para. 85-87).

17. The right of private individuals to bring private

prosecutions for perjury should be retained

(para. 89).

Remedies

18. In criminal trials by jury, on the recommenda-

tions of solicitor and counsel, an independent

investigation into allegations of perjury by police

witnesses not rebuttable during the trial should

be carried out before an appeal, and the report

made available to the prosecution, the defence

and the Court (paras. 101 and 102).

19. In cases of alleged perjury by other prosecution

witnesses an appeal aid certificate should b

granted at the request of solicitor and counsel

(para. 103).

20. After the conviction for perjury of any witness

in a criminal trial, any convicted defendant in

that trial should have an unfettered right of

appeal, irrespective of whether a previous appeal

or application had been refused or abandoned,

or he had not appealed.

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