Perverting the course of justice


Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person interferes with the administration of justice. 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, Fiji, 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.

England and Wales

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 include acts such as:
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:
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 of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981.
This offence is triable only on indictment.

Canada

In Canada, the equivalent offence is referred to as "obstructing justice". It is set out in § 139 of the Criminal Code:

Australia

In New South Wales, the equivalent offence is set out in Section 319 of the Crimes Act 1900. The maximum penalty is 14 years' imprisonment. In 1985 Murray Farquhar, the former Chief Stipendiary Magistrate of New South Wales, was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice to have charges against Kevin Humphreys dismissed and sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison. In 2009 Marcus Einfeld, a former Judge of the Federal 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.

International Criminal Court

In 2020, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda described attempted interference with ICC witnesses in the Kenya investigation as perverting the course of justice under Article 70 of the Rome 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.

Notable convictions

Australia