Perjury

In criminal law. The willful assertion as to a matter of fact, opinion, belief or knowledge, made by a witness in a judicial proceeding as part of his evidence, either upon oath or in any form allowed by law to be substituted for an oath, whether such evidence is given in open court or in an affidavit or otherwise, such assertion being known to such witness to be false, and being intended by him to mislead the court, jury or person holding the procoeding.

2 Whart. Crim. Law, § 1244; Herring v. State, 119 Ga. 709, 46 S. E. 876; Beecher v. Anderson, 45 Mich. 543, 8 N. W. 539; Schmidt v. Witherick, 29 Minn. 156, 12 N. W. 448; State v. Simons, 30 Vt. 620; Miller v. State, 15 Fla. 585; Clark v. Clark, 51 N. J. Eq, 404, 26 Atl. 1012; Hood v. State, 44 Ala. 81.

Perjury shall consist in willfully, knowingly, absolutely, and falsely swearing, either with or without laying the hand on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God, or affirming, in a matter material to the issue or point in question, in some judicial proceeding, by a person to whom a lawful oath or affirmation is administered.

Code Ga. 1882, § 4460.

Every person who, having taken an oath that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify truly before any competent tribunal officer, or person, in any of the cases in which such an oath may by law be administered, willfully, and contrary to such oath, states as truth any materini matter which he knows to be false, is guilty of perjury.

Pen. Code Cui. § 118.

The willful giving, under oath, in a judicial proceeding or course of justice, of false testimony material to the issue or point of inquiry.

2 Bish. Crim. Law, § lOi5.

Perjury, at common law, is the "taking of a willful false oath by one who, being lawfully sworn by a competent court to depose the truth in any judicial proceeding, swears absolutely and falsely in a matter material to the point in issue, whether he believed or not."

Comm. v. Powell, 2 Mete, (Ky.) 10; Cothran v. State, 39 Miss. 541.

It will be observed that, at common law, the crime of perjury can be committed only in the course of a suit or judicial proceeding. But statutes have very generally extended both the definition and the punishment of this offense to willful false swearing in many different kinds of affidavits and depositions, such as those required to be made iu tax returns, pension proceedings, transactions at the custom house, and various other administrative or non-judicial proceedings.