PERJURY ORDINANCE, 1922

PERJURY ORDINANCE, 1922

No. 21 of 1922.

An Ordinance to consolidate and simplify the law relating to
perjury and kindred offences.

[29th September, 1922.]

1. This Ordinance mav be cited as the Perjury Ordinance,
1922.

2. In this Ordinance, ' oath ' and ' affidavit ' iriclude,
in the case of persons allowed or required by law to affirm
instead of swearing, ' affirmation and ' swear ' in the
like case includes ' affirm'

3.-. (1) If any person lawfully sworn as a Witness or as an
interpreter, either generally or in a particular judicial proceeding,
wilfully makes a statement in any judicial proceeding which is
material in that proceeding and which he knows to be false or
does not believe to be true, he shall be guilty of perjury and
shall on conviction thereof on indictment be liable to imprison-
ment for any term not exceeding seven years and to a fine.

(2) ' judicial proceeding ' includes a proceeding before
any court, tribunal or person having by law. power to hear,
receive and examine evidence on oath.

(3) Where a statement rnade for the purposes of a judicial
proceeding is not made before the tribunal itself but is made
on oath before a person authorized by law to administer an oath
to the person who makes the statement and to record or
authenticate the statement, it shall, for the purposes of this
section, be treated as having been made in a judicial proceeding.

(4) A statement made by a person lawfully sworn in
Hong Kong for the purposes of a judicial proceeding-

(a) in another part of His Majesty's dominions, or

(b) in a British tribunal lawfull y constituted in any place
by sea or land outside His Majesty's dominions, or

(c) in a tribunal of any foreign state,

The provisions of this Ordinance are not affected by s. 335 of the
Companies Ordinance, No. 39 of 1932.





shall for the purposes of this section, be treated as a statement
made in a judicial proceeding in Hong Kong.

(5) The question whether a statement on which perjury is
assigned was material is a question of law to be determined by
the court of trial.

4. If'any person being required or authorized by law to
make any statement on oath for any purpose and being lawfully
sworn (otherwise than In a judicial proceeding) wilfully makes
a statement which is material for that purpose and which he
knows to be false or does not believe to be true, he shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof on indictment
shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding seven
years and to a fine.

5. Every person who-

(i) for the purpose of procuring a marriage, or a certificate
or licence for marriage, knowingly and wilfully makes a false
oath or makes or signs a false declaration, notice or certificate
required under any enactment for the time being in force relating
to marriage ; or

(2) knowingly and wilfully makes, or knowingly and wil-
fully causes to be made, for the purpose of being inserted in
any register of marriage, a false statement as to any particular
required by law to be known and registered relating to any
marriage ; or

(3) forbids the issue of any certificate or licence for marriage
by falsely representing hirnself to be a person whose consent to
the marriage, is required by law knowing such representation to
be false,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof on
indictment shall be liable to imprisonment for any term not
exceeding seven years and to a fine.

6.-(1) Every persofi who-
(a) wilfully makes any false answer to any question put to
him by any registrar of births or deaths relating to the particulars
required to be registered concerning any birth or death, or
wilfully gives to any, such registrar any false information
concerning any birth or death or the cause of any death; or





(b) wilfully makes any false certificate or declaration under
or for the purposes of any enactment relating to the registration
of births or deaths, or knowing any such certificate or declaration
to be false, uses the same as true or gives. or sends the same as
true to any. person ; or

(c) wilfully makes, gives or uses any false statement or
declaration as to a child born alive as having been still-born,
or as to the body of a deceased person or a still-born child in
any coffin, or falsely pretends that any child born alive was
still-born ; or

(d) makes any false statement with intent to have. the same
inserted in any register of births or deaths,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable-

(i) on conviction thereof on indictment, to imprisonment
for any term not exceeding seven years and to a fine, and

(ii) on summary conviction thereof, to a fine not exceeding
two hundred and fifty dollars.

(2) A prosecution on indictment for an offence against this
section shall not be commenced more than three years after the
commission of the offence.

7. Every person who knowingly and wilfully makes
(otherwise than on oath) a statement false in a material
particular, such statement being made-

(1) in a statutory declaration; or

(2) in an abstract, account, balance sheet,. book, certificate,
declaration, entry, estimate,, inventory, notice, report, return or
other document which he is authorized or required to make,
attest or verify, by any enactment for the time being in force; or

(3) in any oral declarahon or oral answer which he is
required to make by, under or in pursuance of any enactment
for the time being in force,

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be liable on
conviction thereof on indictment to imprisonment for any term
not exceeding two years and to a fine.





8. Every person who

(1) procures or attempts to procure himself to be registered on any
register or roll kept under or in pursuance of any enactment for the time
being in force of persons qualified by law to practise any vocation or calling;
or

(2) procures or attempts to procure a certificate of the registration of
any person on any such. register or roll as aforesaid,

by wilfully making or producing or causing to be made or produced either
verbally or in writing any declaration, certificate or representation which fie
knows to be false of fraudulent, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall
be liable on conviction thereof on indictment to imprisonment. for any term
not exceediny twelve months and to a fine.


9. (1) Every person who aids, abets, counsels, procures or suborns
another person to commit an offence against this Ordinance shall be liable to
be proceeded against, indicted, tried and punished as if lie were a principal
offender.

(2) Every person who incites or attempts to procure or suborn another
person to commit an offence against this Ordinance shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor.

10. Where two or more contradictory statements of fact or alleged fact,
material to the issue or matter in question, have been wilfully made on oath
by one and the same witness in any judicial proceeding or proceedings,
whether before the same court or tribunal or person or not, and whether the
respective truth or falsehood of the said statements can be ascertained or
not, an indictment may be preferred against him charging him with having
wilfully made the said contradictory statements, and on conviction thereof,
either in whole. or in part, such witness shall be liable to imprisonment for
any term not, exceeding. seven years and to a fine.

11. Every person who wilfully uses for any purpose any affidavit
which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true, wherever such
affidavit may have been sworn, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on
conviction thereof on indictment shall be liable to imprisonment for any term
not exceeding seven years and to a fine.





12.-(1) Where any judge or magistrate is of opinion that any
person has in the course of a proceeding before him been guilty of
perjury, he mav order the prosecution of that person for such perjury
in case there appears to.be reasonable cause for such prosecution,
and may commit him, or admit him to bail, to take his trial at the
proper court, and may require, any person to enter into a
recognizance to prosecute or give evidence against the person whose
prosecution is so ordered, and may give the person so bound to
prosecute a certificate of the making of the order for the prosecution,
for which certificate no charge shall be made.

(2) An order made or a certificate given under this section shall
not be given in evidence for the purpose or in the course of any, trial
of a prosecution resulting therefrom.

13.-(1) In an indictment

(a) for making any false statement or false representation
punishable under this Ordinance ; or

(b) for unlawfully, wilfully, falsely, fraudulently, deceitfully,
maliciously or corruptly taking, making, signing or subscribing any
oath, affirmation, solemn declaration, statutory declaration, affidavit,
deposition, notice, certificate or other writing; or

(c) for wilfully making contradictory statements on oath in a
judicial proceeding or proceedings ; or

(d) for wilfully using a false affidavit,

it is sufficient to set forth the substance of the offence charged and
before Which court or person

(if any) the offence was
committed, without setting forth the proceedings or any part of the
proceedings in the course of which the offence was committed, and
without setting forth the authority of any court or person before
whom the offence was committed.

(2) In an indictment for aiding, abetting, counselling procuring, or
suborning any other person to commit any offence hereinbefore in
this section mentioned, or for conspiring with any other person, or for
inciting or attempting to procure or

As amended by Law Rev. Ord., 1939, Supp. Sched.





suborn any other person, to commit any such offence, it is
sufficient-

(a) where such offence has been committed, to allege that
offence and then to allege that the defendant procured the
commission of that offence; and

(b) where Such offence has not been committed, to set forth
the substance of the offence charged against the defendant
without setting forth any, matter or thing which it is unnecessary
to aver in the case of an indictment for a false statement or
false representation punishable under this Ordinance.

14. A person shall not be liable to be convicted of any
offence against this Ordinance, or of any offence declared by
any other enactment to be perjury or subornation of perjury or
to be punishable as perjury or subornation of perjury, solely
upon the evidence, of one witness as to the falsity of any
statement alleged to be false.

15. On a prosecution-

(1) for perjury alleged to have been committed on the
trial of an indictment for felony or misdemeanor; or

(2) for procuring or suborning the commission of perjury
the fact of the former trial shall be sufficientl proved by

production of a certificate containing the substance and effect
(omitting the formal parts) of the indictment and trial, purport
ing to be signed by the Registrar or other person having the
custody, of the records of the court where the indictment wa
tried, or by the deputy of that Registrar or other person, withou
proof of the signature or official character of the Registrar o
,person appearing to have signed the certificate.

16. For. the purposes of this Ordinance, the forms and
ceremonies used in administering an oath are immaterial, if the
court or person before whoin the oath is taken has power to
administer an oath for the purpose of verifying the statemen
in question and if the oath has been administered in a form and
with ceremonies which the person taking the oath has accepted
without objection, or has declared to be binding on him.

17.(1) Where the making of a false statement is not
only an offence under this Ordinance but also by virtue of some
other enactment is.a corrupt practice or subjects the offender
to any forfeiture or disqualification or to ahy penalty other than
imprisonment or fine, the liability of the offender under this
Ordinance shall be in addition to and not in substitution for
his liability under such other enactment.

(2) Where the making of a false statement is made punish-
able by any other enactment, whether passed before or after
the commencement of this Ordinance, proceedings may be
taken either tinder such other enactment or under this
Ordinance.

[Originally No. 21 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1939.]* Short title. Interpretation. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 15 (2). Perjury. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 1. Forgery of certain documents with intent to defraud. 3 & 4 Geo. 5, c. 27, s. 2.* False statutory declarations and other false statements without oath. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 5. False declarations, etc., to obtain registration, etc., for carrying on a vocation. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 6. Aiders, abettors, suborners, etc. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 7. Contradictory statements on oath. [cf. No. 2 of 1889, ss. 42 to 47.] Using false affidavits. Power to direct a prosecution for perjury. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 9. Form of indictment. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 12. Corroboration. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 13. Proof of certain proceedings on which perjury is assigned. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 14. Form of oath. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 15. Savings. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 16. [cf. No. 18 of 1912, s. 11.]

[Originally No. 21 of 1922. Law Rev. Ord., 1939.]* Short title. Interpretation. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 15 (2). Perjury. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 1. Forgery of certain documents with intent to defraud. 3 & 4 Geo. 5, c. 27, s. 2.* False statutory declarations and other false statements without oath. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 5. False declarations, etc., to obtain registration, etc., for carrying on a vocation. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 6. Aiders, abettors, suborners, etc. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 7. Contradictory statements on oath. [cf. No. 2 of 1889, ss. 42 to 47.] Using false affidavits. Power to direct a prosecution for perjury. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 9. Form of indictment. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 12. Corroboration. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 13. Proof of certain proceedings on which perjury is assigned. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 14. Form of oath. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 15. Savings. 1 & 2 Geo. 5, c. 6, s. 16. [cf. No. 18 of 1912, s. 11.]

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