Perjury

meggib

Sorry if in wrong place. I am writing for a friend. When perjury in affidavits are pointed out in court (which can be proved 100%) shouldn't these be investigated and not ignored. As in my friend's case this was completely ignored. Should these people not stand trial. I always believed it was such a serious offence. I have written to the procurator fiscal on my friends behalf as friend is very unwell but not had a reply. In Scotland.
Thanks

DullGreyGuy

Depends on the circumstances, plenty of circumstances people can be wrong in their belief which if their statement is only made to the best of their knowledge then it wouldnt be perjury. You also have the other hurdles to get over on if its considered worth prosecution. 

Appreciate your case is in Scotland but you can see the English guidelines on perjury at https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/public-justice-offences-incorporating-charging-standard and whilst a different legal system COPFS doesn't tend to be a million miles away from CPS

meggib

Thank you DullGreyGuy.. Well in my friend;s case they are 100% blatant lies and no way is it their beliefs . My friend was very ill at the time it was brought to court.. The solicitor knew all the facts.

Just got a reply from the procurator fiscal and has directed me to send my concerns to scotcourts

TBagpuss

I suspect that as with most crimes, there has to be a decison about whether it is appropriate  / in the public interest to prosecute.
IF someone is shown up as lying in a court hearing then presumbly the court made a decision knowing they had lied - in other words, the perjury did not achieve anything.

In caes where the perjury didn't come to light until later, so they benfitted from it or the case in which they gave perjured evidence had to be reopened, it may be seen as more important to pursue them. 

It may also depend on the nature of the case and nature of the perjury -e.g. what the consequences would have been had they been believed, and whther it appears that it ws a calculated lie or someone remembering things differently, or having a real but inaccurate memory of the events. 

GDB2222

meggib said:

Thank you DullGreyGuy.. Well in my friend;s case they are 100% blatant lies and no way is it their beliefs . My friend was very ill at the time it was brought to court.. The solicitor knew all the facts.

Just got a reply from the procurator fiscal and has directed me to send my concerns to scotcourts

Can you explain how seriously these lies affected the case?