QLD Lying in Affidavit - Guilty of Perjury?

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Dwayne Harry

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13 November 2015
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If a person deliberately, with full knowledge, lies in an affidavit that is used in Court Proceedings, are they then guilty of Perjury?
 
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Gorodetsky

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21 February 2016
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Hi Dwayne,

No. The magistrate/judge/jury see that they have lied and treat all their evidence as being unreliable.

To be found guilty, the police need to charge them, then they either plead guilty or are found guilty after a hearing.

Police hardly ever charge anyone with perjury. And in this climate, a DV "victim" getting charged for perjury is pretty freaking unlikely.

Try for costs...

Regards
 

Rod

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27 May 2014
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The crime is called perjury.

2 different penalties can apply in Qld - up to 14 years gaol, or up to life if the perjury is in relation to a crime with a punishment of life.

There is a significant difference though between using evidence to prove or disprove a fact in court and making a false report to police.

In the first instance the evidence may not be accepted as proving a fact but that is not the same as saying as saying it is deliberately false.

Personally I don't like the premise of granting AVOs DVOs unless there is independent evidence backing up the allegations being made. It is too easy at the moment to get an AVO just on the lying word of an unreasonable unreliable pissed off person. And the consequences of breaching an AVO are too harsh for some low level offending, especially when trapped into it by the scheming lying person who is out to get you using the legal system for their own base personal satisfaction.

The law needs something like a 'keep away and no contact' order to separate people but that doesn't have the same stigma and effect of an AVO DVO and can be granted without needing to prove violence or apprehension. This can change to an AVO DVO if the order is broken rather the next step being gaol or fines. It can be treated like traffic infringements are without needing a proper court and it puts the offending party on notice the aggrieved party wants space.

Rules can easily be put in place such as if the aggrieved party initiates contact the 'keep away no contact order' is wiped away like it never existed. The type of contact can vary the infringement from say one point for a text msg to 12 points for knocking on the door at midnight.
 

Iamthelaw

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13 September 2016
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The original poster has put forward a scenario about making a false statement in an affidavit that is used in court proceedings. The relevant offence is perjury. The exact definition may differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but generally speaking: A person who in, or in connection with any judicial proceeding makes a false statement on oath or affirmation concerning any matter which is material to the proceeding whilst knowing that statement to be false or believing it to not be true.

Filing a sworn affidavit that is then used in court (judicial proceeding) that is false definitely is perjury. An easy example is: Filing an affidavit saying that your weekly income is $2000, when it is in fact, $3000. It ought to be noted though that this isn't all that needs to be proven.

To be found guilty, the police need to charge them.
Incorrect - The DPP or AG can also bring charge for perjury.

Police hardly ever charge anyone with perjury.
Where did you source this information from? Perjury, along with a similarly related offence of pervert the course of justice is utilized quite often.
 

Gorodetsky

Well-Known Member
21 February 2016
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Incorrect - The DPP or AG can also bring charge for perjury.

Where did you source this information from? Perjury, along with a similarly related offence of pervert the course of justice is utilized quite often.

The DPP and the AG...cool, I didn't know...I suspect poor Dwayne has even less chance with them than the police though.

My sources? Anecdotal. Which I completely agree is far from beyond reasonable doubt. If you feel it's not true you ought to recommend Dwayne take his evidence to the police and ask them to charge this person with perjury.

I'm not a solicitor, so I'm always happy for better informed posters to correct my opinion and educate myself.

Regards
 

Rod

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Private prosecutions can also be undertaken.
 

Iamthelaw

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13 September 2016
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Rod

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Part 5, Div 2 of the Justices Act 1886 (Qld) allows private prosecutions for indictable offences that can be heard summarily.

s 686 of the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) also allows private prosecutions for indictable offences with the leave of the Qld Supreme Court.

Though I am not familiar with the detail of these provisions.