People deliberately lying in court 'all too frequent' 

Perjury by some people has been affecting the course of justice, report says

Specific laws set up a year ago to tackle perjury — identified as a particular issue in insurance fraud — have yet to see a prosecution, but authorities expect that, with greater awareness of new offences, charges will follow.

Deliberate lying by some people is “all too frequent” in the courts and it has been affecting the course of justice, a Department of Justice report has said.

Specific laws set up a year ago to tackle perjury — identified as a particular issue in insurance fraud — have yet to see a prosecution, but authorities expect that, with greater awareness of new offences, charges will follow.

The Department of Justice is obliged to produce a “post-enactment” report on the operation of the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 one year on from its commencement.

The report said that Garda figures show that, in the 10 years to 2020, there have been “just 31” recorded incidents of perjury in the courts.

“Unfortunately, all too frequently some people have deliberately lied in court or misrepresented the truth in affidavits which materially affected the course of justice and equity,” the report said.

“This legislation was developed in order to create significant deterrents for people who provide such false evidence and statements and as a result materially affect the course of justice.” 

The 2021 act consolidates and simplifies the law on perjury and making false statements in legal proceedings and updates the penalties for such offences. 

“The offence of perjury is already provided for in common law but the historical levels of investigations and prosecutions for perjury in this country are low,” it said.

Easier to prosecute

The report said that people in the business community had called for new legislation “to make it easier” to prosecute such an offence.

It said the act imposed a fine of €4,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to 12 months on summary conviction and a €100,000 fine or up to 10 years imprisonment for conviction on indictment.

The Department said the issue following a 2018 report by the Cost of Insurance Working Group, which considered the law on perjury as part of a framework of “deterrents to exaggerated and fraudulent claims”.

The report said: “Therefore, this legislation was also envisaged to act as a part of a package of Government measures dealing with insurance issues, insurance fraud and exaggerated claims.” 

Proposed laws on the area had a long gestation, beginning as a Private Members’ Bill in the Seanad October 2018 before being adopted by the Government, passed by the Dáil and commenced on 28 July 2021.

No prosecutions to date

The report said the DPP confirmed that no prosecutions have been directed under the act yet, although there was one mutual legal assistance request issued to the Netherlands arising out of a Garda investigation into an offence of perjury contrary to the 2021 act.

“The Department of Justice is satisfied that this Act will play an important role in providing a clearer legal framework through which our law enforcement authorities may be guided in decisively taking action in the area of perjury,” the report concluded.

It said there was a need for a more effective and streamlined process through which perjury can be prosecuted and the State had realised this objective by enacting this legislation. 

"The Department anticipates that as the awareness of this recently enacted legislation grows, it will, over time, have an impact on the numbers of complaints, investigations and prosecutions," it said.