Perjury consists in wilfully and falsely swearing to a fact material to the point in issue before a court or tribunal having legal authority to inquire into the cause or matter investigated.47 Another definition is the wilful utterance of false testimony under oath or affirmation before a competent tribunal, upon a point material to a legal inquiry.48

To commit perjury a person must swear wilfully, corruptly and falsely. The false statement made by the witness under oath must be known to him to be false and intended by him to mislead the court or jury.49