Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
475. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Justice if she proposes to extend the remedy under section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offenses) Act 2021 where there is a time limit of three years in initiating a prosecution for the offence of making a false declaration or if there is a remedy available for declarations that fall outside the limit in the Act; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18092/24]
View answerThe Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act came into force in 2021. The purpose of the Act is to consolidate and simplify the law relating to perjury and related offences and to update certain penalties accordingly. The Act provides a clear, statutory definition of perjury and enables the offence and related offences, including false statements on oath, false statutory declarations and false declarations, to be more easily prosecuted before the courts.
Although the offence of perjury is already provided for in common law and the historical levels of investigations and prosecutions for perjury in this country are low, many stakeholders, in particular within the business community, called for new legislation to be put in place in order to make it easier to prosecute such an offence.
Section 14 of the Act extends to three years the time limit within which summary proceedings may be commenced for an offence under the Act or for perjury or subornation of perjury under any other enactment or law. The penalty on summary conviction is a fine of up to €4,000 and/or up to 12 months in prison. There is no time limit for the commencement of proceedings on indictment, which carries a penalty on conviction of a fine of up to €100,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison.
There are currently no plans to amend the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021. However, I am committed to ensuring that our criminal legislation is comprehensive and effective. As such, it is constantly kept under review, with changes brought forward where a need for such is identified.
