According to official statistics from the Supreme Judicial Council, in the first half of 2022 alone, 255,106 cases were filed in all courts in the country. Witnesses participate in almost every court case, whether civil or criminal. And before proceeding with their examination, the court always warns them that they are criminally liable for perjury if they confirm untruths or conceal the truth before the court. The same applies when witnesses are examined by pre-trial authorities, such as the police or the prosecution.
Despite the risk of criminal liability for perjury, quite a few witnesses actually confirm untruths or conceal the truth in order to achieve a certain outcome that is favorable to them or their relatives. In such cases, it is within the competence of the prosecution to initiate criminal proceedings and conduct an investigation. This is done either on the basis of a report by a party to the case in which perjury has been committed, or on the initiative of the prosecution itself.
When is perjury present?
For a crime to exist, several mandatory conditions must be met:
- the person has the status of a witness;
A person acquires such status when summoned by a court or other competent authority to present their perceptions of a given case. - the witness has confirmed something untrue or concealed the truth;
This means that the witness has said something that is not true or has concealed something that he knows. - да го е направил съзнателно;
Това означава да е знаел, че това, което твърди не е вярно или че премълчава нещо, което знае. - has done so before a court or other competent authority.
“Other competent authority” may be a pre-trial authority, i.e. an investigating police officer, an investigating customs inspector, and a prosecutor.
Important! If the accused or defendant says to the police, the prosecutor’s office or the court something, which is not true or conceals something, which he knows, he does not bear criminal responsibility for perjury. This is so, due to the fact that no one can can be obliged to admit to a crime committed by him.
Important! All witnesses have the right not to answer questions that would incriminate them or a certain category of their relatives in the commission of a crime. Exercising this right, although it amounts to withholding the truth in practice, does not render the witness criminally liable for perjury.
Important! A certain category of witnesses have the right to refuse to testify in a case if they are summoned. Exercising this right also means concealing the truth, but again does not entail criminal liability for perjury on the part of the witness who has refused to testify. However, if they do not exercise this right, they have a duty not to tell untruths or conceal the truth, except in cases where they would incriminate themselves or a close relative in the commission of a crime.
What penalties does the law provide for perjury?
The punishment prescribed by law for perjury is up to five years’ imprisonment.
A false witness shall not be held criminally liable if he recants his false testimony before the relevant authority before which he gave it. This must be done before the judgment becomes final if the false testimony was given in a criminal case. When it has been given in a civil case, the retraction of the false testimony must take place before the court’s decision enters into force. An additional requirement for the false witness not to be punished is that the retraction of the false testimony must take place before criminal proceedings are instituted against him for this act.
Inducement to perjury
In fact, the term used in the Penal Code is “incitement,” i.e., a person has attempted to persuade and motivate a witness to confirm a falsehood or conceal the truth. The peculiarity here is that the witness has not committed perjury. Nevertheless, the person who incited them bears a separate type of criminal liability. The punishment is imprisonment for up to one year or probation.
When a person has successfully motivated a witness to give false testimony, i.e., the witness has actually confirmed untruths or concealed the truth, then the instigator is liable to a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment.
Defense in cases of perjury and incitement to such
As with any criminal case, there are two possible outcomes:
- acquittal
- conviction sentence with imposition of
a. effective deprivation of liberty
b. conditional sentence
c. probation.
Determining the potential outcomes of a specific criminal case is only possible based on the facts and evidence gathered by a competent criminal defense attorney.
It is important to note, however, that a conviction does not always mean imprisonment. In certain circumstances, it is possible for the prison sentence to be suspended for a probationary period or replaced by probation.
A suspended sentence is possible if the perjurer has no previous convictions. An additional condition is that the court must impose a sentence of no more than three years’ imprisonment and must consider that it is not necessary for the perjurer to serve the sentence in order to be reformed and rehabilitated. In such cases, the court shall defer the execution of the sentence for a period of three to five years.
Replacing the imposed prison sentence with probation is possible when there are exceptional or numerous mitigating circumstances. This assessment is again made for each specific case according to the facts, circumstances, and evidence in the case. It is the responsibility of the criminal lawyer authorized to represent the case to seek and substantiate the existence of such circumstances.
Example. An extremely mitigating circumstance would be present if the witness had been threatened.
In cases of perjury and incitement to perjury, it is not possible to exempt the perpetrator from criminal liability by imposing an administrative penalty.
This is only possible in cases of incitement to perjury, i.e. the witness was motivated to confirm untruths or conceal the truth, but did not do so.
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