Perjury

Cinpres Gas Injection Ltd v Melea Ltd CA TLR 29 February

For a judgment to be set aside on the grounds of perjury, it must have been obtained by the fraud of, or procured by, a party; perjury by a mere witness is not enough. However, perjury by a witness who has a common cause with one of the parties in proceedings can be sufficient to have the judgment set aside as having been obtained by fraud. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against a judgment that the perjured evidence of a witness, whose evidence in earlier proceedings had resulted in a judgment against the claimant, was not to be attributed to the defendant. The witness was more than a mere witness in the proceedings; he was the comrade in arms of one of the parties, and his fraud by way of perjury was adopted by the party and should be regarded as his. The earlier judgment should be set aside on the ground of his fraud and, given that, the whole judgment was unravelled and should be set aside.