Related Research Articles
Perjury is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding.
Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. Like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include (1) intentionally instituting and pursuing a legal action that is (2) brought without probable cause and (3) dismissed in favor of the victim of the malicious prosecution. In some jurisdictions, the term "malicious prosecution" denotes the wrongful initiation of criminal proceedings, while the term "malicious use of process" denotes the wrongful initiation of civil proceedings.
In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other government officials. Common law jurisdictions other than the United States tend to use the wider offense of perverting the course of justice.
Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statutory versions of the offence exist in Australia, Canada, Fiji, Ireland, and New Zealand. The Scottish equivalent is defeating the ends of justice, although charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice are also raised in Scotland, while the South African counterpart is defeating or obstructing the course of justice. A similar concept, obstruction of justice, exists in United States law.
In the United States criminal law, a frame-up (frameup) or setup is the act of falsely implicating (framing) someone in a crime by providing fabricated evidence or testimony. In British usage, to frame, or stitch up, is to maliciously or dishonestly incriminate someone or set them up, in the sense trap or ensnare.
A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation.
Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings.
Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court unanimously overturned accounting firm Arthur Andersen's conviction of obstruction of justice in the fraudulent activities and subsequent collapse of Enron. The Court found that the jury instructions did not properly portray the law Arthur Andersen was charged with breaking. Even after the conviction was overturned, the damage to Arthur Andersen's reputation was such that it did not return as a viable business.
The law of evidence, also known as the rules of evidence, encompasses the rules and legal principles that govern the proof of facts in a legal proceeding. These rules determine what evidence must or must not be considered by the trier of fact in reaching its decision. The trier of fact is a judge in bench trials, or the jury in any cases involving a jury. The law of evidence is also concerned with the quantum (amount), quality, and type of proof needed to prevail in litigation. The rules vary depending upon whether the venue is a criminal court, civil court, or family court, and they vary by jurisdiction.
Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misconduct may involve harm to another person's health or well-being.
The Criminal Justice Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is a wide-ranging measure introduced to modernise many areas of the criminal justice system in England and Wales and, to a lesser extent, in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Large portions of the act were repealed and replaced by the Sentencing Act 2020.
Bosnia and Herzegovina v Serbia and Montenegro [2007] ICJ 2 is a public international law case decided by the International Court of Justice.
In law, scienter is a legal term for intent or knowledge of wrongdoing. An offending party then has knowledge of the "wrongness" of an act or event prior to committing it.
In evidence law, physical evidence is any material object that plays some role in the matter that gave rise to the litigation, introduced as evidence in a judicial proceeding to prove a fact in issue based on the object's physical characteristics.
Adverse inference is a legal inference, adverse to the concerned party, drawn from silence or absence of requested evidence. It is part of evidence codes based on common law in various countries.
Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mischief, and public order offences including mobbing and breach of the peace. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statutes of the UK Parliament with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and traffic offences appearing identical on both sides of the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 and Prostitution (Scotland) Act 2007 which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of corroboration in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in England or in civil cases in Scotland. Scots law is one of the few legal systems that require corroboration.
Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. state laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific basis in statute.
Annie Dookhan is an American chemist who was convicted of felony obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and other crimes relating to mass falsification of lab results. At the time of her crimes, she worked at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Drug Abuse lab, but was placed on administrative leave and subsequently quit after admitting to falsifying evidence affecting up to 34,000 cases.
Corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding is a felony under U.S. federal law. It was enacted as part of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 in reaction to the Enron scandal, and closed a legal loophole on who could be charged with evidence tampering by defining the new crime very broadly.
Fischer v. United States was a United States Supreme Court case about the proper use of the felony charge of obstructing an official proceeding, established in the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, against participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack. The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in June of 2024 that the charge only applied when the defendant "impaired the availability or integrity" of a physical document or object used in an official proceeding.
References
- ↑ Sanchirico, Chris W. (February 2004). "Evidence Tampering". Duke Law Journal. 53 (4): 1215. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- 1 2 "Destruction of document or electronic record to prevent its production as evidence". Singapore Statutes. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ↑ "False charge of offence made with intent to injure". Singapore Statutes. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ↑ "Wrongful Convictions in Singapore: A General Survey of Risk Factors". Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
- ↑ Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004). For an overview of spoliation, see generally Michael Zuckerman, Yes, I Destroyed the Evidence -- Sue Me?, Journal of Computer and Information Law
- ↑ Katz, Scott S.; Muscaro, Anne Marie (1993). "Spoilage of Evidence – Crimes, Sanctions, Inferences and Torts". Tort & Insurance Law Journal. 29 (1): 51–76. JSTOR 25762410.
- ↑ Young, Will (January 27, 2020). "How Corporate Lawyers Made It Harder to Punish Companies That Destroy Electronic Evidence". ProPublica. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ↑ "Evidence Spoliation: A Growing New Tort". Library.findlaw.com. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- ↑ "Know Your Rights: Protesters and Photographers". ACLU. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ↑ "Inquiry into Met Police file shredding claims". BBC News. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
- ↑ Siklos, Richard (2007-07-14). "Conrad Black Found Guilty in Fraud Trial". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-11-28.
