Part 6
Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice

Misleading justice

108 Perjury 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 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 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 is competent to be a witness or not, and whether his 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:

(a) any court of justice:

(b) the House of Representatives or any Committee of that House:

(c) any arbitrator or umpire, or any person or body of persons authorised by law to make an inquiry and take evidence therein upon oath:

(d) any legal tribunal by which any legal right or liability can be established:

(e) any person acting as a court or tribunal having power to hold a judicial proceeding:

(f) 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.

(5) 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.

Part 6
Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice

Misleading justice

111 False statements or declarations

Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who, on any occasion on which he is required or permitted by law to make any statement or declaration before any officer or person authorised by law to take or receive it, or before any notary public to be certified by him as such notary, makes a statement or declaration that would amount to perjury if made on oath in a judicial proceeding.

PART 2 - INTERNATIONAL CRIMES AND OFFENCES AGAINST ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Offences against administration of justice

18.
False evidence—

(1)Every person who gives evidence for the purposes of a proceeding before the ICC or in connection with a request made by the ICC that contains an assertion that, if made in a judicial proceeding in New Zealand as evidence on oath, would be perjury, gives false evidence.

(2)A person is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, in New Zealand or elsewhere, gives false evidence.

(3)Despite subsection (2), if the false evidence is given in order to obtain the conviction of a person for an 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.

Cf 1961 No 43 s 109


19.
Fabricating evidence before ICC—

Every person is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who, in New Zealand or elsewhere, with intent to mislead the ICC, fabricates evidence by any means other than the giving of false evidence.

Cf 1961 No 43 s 113