Perjury: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Perjury is lying or making verifiable false statements under oath in a court of law.

Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth, and for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful. Statements of interpretation of fact are not perjury because people often make inaccurate statements unwittingly and not deliberately. Individuals may have honest but mistaken beliefs about certain facts or their recollection may be inaccurate. Like all other crimes in the common law system, perjury requires one to have the mens rea and actus reus necessary to prove the elements of a crime.

In some countries such as France, suspects cannot be heard under oath and thus do not commit perjury, whatever they say during their trial.

Perjury also applies to witnesses who affirm they are telling the truth (rather than swear an oath), or who have made a statement under penalty of perjury even if they have not been sworn or affirmed before a notary public or other public officer authorized under law to take oaths.