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Concept
Perverting the course of justice
Summary
Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statutory versions of the offence exist in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Scottish equivalent is defeating the ends of justice, although charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice are also raised in Scotland, while the South African counterpart is defeating or obstructing the course of justice. A similar concept, obstruction of justice, exists in United States law.
Doing an act tending and intending to pervert the course of public justice is an offence under the common law of England and Wales.
Perverting the course of justice can be any of three acts:
Fabricating or disposing of evidence
Intimidating or threatening a witness or juror
Intimidating or threatening a judge
Also criminal are:
conspiring with another to pervert the course of justice, and
intending to pervert the course of justice
This offence, and the subject matter of the related forms of criminal conspiracy, have been referred to as:
Perverting the course of justice
Interfering with the administration of justice
Obstructing the administration of justice
Obstructing the course of justice
Defeating the due course of justice
Defeating the ends of justice
Effecting a public mischief
This proliferation of alternative names has been described as "somewhat confusing".
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 substantive common law offence and not an inchoate offence. It is not a form of the offence of attempt, and it would be erroneous to charge it as being contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981.
This offence is triable only on indictment.
In Canada, the equivalent offence is referred to as "obstructing justice". It is set out in § 139 of the Criminal Code:
139.
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