Perjury in Ethiopia: Legal and Practical Challenges in East Gojjam Zone

Abstract

 Perjury is a false testimony, in relation to facts material to the issue to be decided, given by a party to proceedings before a judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal who is (being) required to speak the truth. Witnesses are the major source of evidence in the administration of criminal justice and other proceedings. However, witnesses may also supply perjured testimony to courts that increases the conviction of innocent persons. The conviction of innocent persons is intolerable error under the FDRE Criminal Justice Policy and the FDRE Constitution. The article purports to explore the various legal and practical challenges posed by the practice of perjury in courts particularly in criminal cases. In order to explore the challenges, the article used both primary and secondary data. The researchers found that perjury is increasing in East Gojjam Zone courts leading to wrong conviction and punishment of innocent persons. Moreover, perjury debilitates the trust and confidence of the society towards the judiciary. This holds true as perjury is very rarely charged against anyone who perjured. The article recommends that courts must introduce better means of winnowing evidence by allowing suspects to use cross-examination properly and other procedural safeguards the FDRE Constitution guarantees. Moreover, the Office of Attorney’s should also raise awareness of the society to hold better societal values. Lastly, there should be possible interface between different institutions for better management of evidence.