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Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person interferes with the administration ofjustice. InEngland and Wales it is acommon law offence, carrying a maximum sentence oflife imprisonment.Statutory versions of the offence exist inAustralia,Canada,Fiji,Ireland, andNew Zealand. The Scottish equivalent isdefeating the ends of justice, although charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice are also raised in Scotland,[1] while theSouth African counterpart isdefeating or obstructing the course of justice.[2] A similar concept,obstruction of justice, exists inUnited States law.
Doing an act tending and intending to pervert the course of public justice[3] is an offence under thecommon law ofEngland and Wales.
Perverting the course of justice can include acts such as:
Also criminal are:
This offence, and the subject matter of the related forms ofcriminal conspiracy, have been referred to as:
This proliferation of alternative names has been described as "somewhat confusing".[5]
This offence is also sometimes referred to as "attempting to pervert the course of justice". This is potentially misleading. An attempt to pervert the course of justice is a substantivecommon law offence and not aninchoate offence. It is not a form of the offence ofattempt, and it would be erroneous to charge it as being contrary to section 1(1) of theCriminal Attempts Act 1981.[6]
This offence istriable only on indictment.[7]
In Canada, the equivalent offence is referred to as "obstructing justice". It is set out in § 139 of theCriminal Code:
139. (1) Every one who wilfully attempts in any manner to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice in a judicial proceeding,
(a) by indemnifying or agreeing to indemnify a surety, in any way and either in whole or in part, or(b) where he is a surety, by accepting or agreeing to accept a fee or any form of indemnity whether in whole or in part from or in respect of a person who is released or is to be released from custody,is guilty of
(c) an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or(d) an offence punishable on summary conviction.(2) Every one who wilfully attempts in any manner other than a manner described in subsection (1) to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years.
(3) Without restricting the generality of subsection (2), every one shall be deemed wilfully to attempt to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice who in a judicial proceeding, existing or proposed,
(a) dissuades or attempts to dissuade a person by threats, bribes or other corrupt means from giving evidence;(b) influences or attempts to influence by threats, bribes or other corrupt means a person in his conduct as a juror; or(c) accepts or obtains, agrees to accept or attempts to obtain a bribe or other corrupt consideration to abstain from giving evidence, or to do or to refrain from doing anything as a juror.[8]
InNew South Wales, the equivalent offence is set out in Section 319 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).[9] The maximum penalty is 14 years' imprisonment. In 1985Murray Farquhar, the formerChief Stipendiary Magistrate of New South Wales, was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice to have charges againstKevin Humphreys dismissed and sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.[10] In 2009Marcus Einfeld, a former Judge of theFederal Court of Australia, was sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement with intent to pervert the course of justice.[11]
In 2020,International Criminal Court (ICC) ProsecutorFatou Bensouda described attempted interference with ICC witnesses in theKenya investigation as perverting the course of justice underArticle 70 of theRome Statute, which defines the legal context of the ICC. Arrest warrants were issued against three people for their alleged attempts to make witnesses withdraw statements or refuse to testify to the court.[12]
Australia
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