Perjury
176.—(1) Any person lawfully sworn as a witness in a judicial proceeding who wilfully makes a statement material in that proceeding which he or she knows to be false or does not believe to be true commits an indictable offence (which is triable summarily) termed perjury.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 7 years.
(2) Any person lawfully sworn as an interpreter, who wilfully in the course of his or her duties as an interpreter—
(a) makes any misstatement; or
(b) actively or by omission misinterprets any statement (whether or not that statement is material in any judicial proceeding)—
commits the offence of perjury.
Penalty — Imprisonment for 7 years.
(3) Where a statement made for the purpose of a judicial proceeding is not made before the court or tribunal itself, but is made on oath before a person authorised 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) 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.
