Proposal for statutory perjury offence under examination

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) published a policy paper in June which said a statutory offence of perjury would cut fraudulent claims in the courts.

At the time, personal injury practitioners told Irish Legal News that there are already “lots of checks and balances in the existing system”.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has asked his officials to “carefully” examine ISME’s case for reform, his private secretary Alan McGreevy wrote in a letter to ISME boss Neil McDonnell.

The letter indicated that the Department would contact ISME on the completion of its examination, according to The Irish Times.

The letter also highlighted that the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 made it an offence to give false evidence in a personal injury action.

However, ISME believes the law is inadequate because it only applies to evidence in court proceedings and not to false claims submitted to the Injuries Board, which ISME believes should be through affidavit.