Oath

Oath, in Law, is the declaration, attested by the name of God, which is required on entering certain public offices and before giving evidence in a court of justice. Of oaths taken on entering office, the most important is the coronation oath, administered to the sovereign by an archbishop or bishop of the Church of England in presence of all the people (see CORONATION). The oaths required to be taken to government by the holders of certain offices have now been reduced to three in number—the oath of allegiance, the official oath, and the judicial oath. The oath of Allegiance (q.v.), 'to be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty,' and the official oath, 'to well and truly serve her Majesty,' must be taken by all the principal officers of state in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Short forms of these oaths are provided in the Promissory Oaths Act, 1868, and in a schedule appended to this statute will be found a complete list of the officials to whom these different oaths are to be tendered. All the judges of the land on entering office, take, in addition to the oath of allegiance, what is known as the 'judicial' oath, 'to do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection, or ill-will.'

Members of parliament now take only the oath of allegiance, which has come in the place of the several oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration formerly required from every member of both Houses of Parliament and from all persons holding office under the crown. Till comparatively recent times, oaths were required on many trivial occasions and from numerous classes of persons. By 5 and 6 Will. IV. chap. 62, and several succeeding statutes, however, nearly all these unnecessary oaths have been abolished and declarations have been substituted. Special oaths are, nevertheless, still taken by privy-councillors, by archbishops and bishops, by peers, baronets, and knights on their creation, by aliens on being naturalised, by recruits, and others.

The most important oaths affecting the general public are those which are administered in courts of justice to jurors and witnesses. Jurymen, who are called on to exercise their functions, whether in civil or criminal cases, are sworn 'to well and truly try the issue between the parties, and a true verdict give, according to the evidence.' Further, no person can give testimony upon any trial until he have in one form or another given a pledge that he will narrate the truth; he thus renders himself liable to the temporal penalties of perjury in the event of his wilfully and corruptly giving false testimony. In England, the oath which is administered to witnesses is in this form: 'The evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.' The universal usage in England and Ireland was for the witness, after hearing the oath repeated by the officer of court, to kiss the New Testament; about 1892 the equally legal practice of swearing with uplifted hand came into use. There is an ordinance of the Emperor Julian prescribing that the oath be taken sacrosanctis evangelis tactis. In Scotland the witness, standing and holding up his right hand, repeats the oath after the judge, as follows: 'I swear by Almighty God, and as I shall answer to God at the great day of judgment, that I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.' Children under twelve years of age are never sworn, but are admonished to tell the truth. Children between twelve and fourteen may take the oath, but only if the judge is satisfied that they understood its nature. By the Act 1 and 2 Vict. chap. 105, legislative sanction has been given to the rule of the common law that all persons shall be bound by the oaths which are lawfully administered to them, 'provided they are administered in such form, and with such ceremonies as the parties sworn declare to be binding on their consciences.' Thus, a Jew is sworn on the Pentateuch, with his head covered; a Mohammedan, on the Koran, laying his right hand flat on the sacred book and then touching it with his forehead. A Chinaman is sworn by the ceremony of breaking a saucer before taking the oath. As regards the persons entitled to administer oaths, Lord Brougham's Act of 1851 provides that 'every court, judge, justice, officer, commissioner, arbitrator, or other person, now or hereafter, having by law or by consent of parties authority to hear, receive, and examine evidence, is hereby empowered to administer an oath to all such witnesses as are called before them.' Further, by statute (18 and 19 Vict. chap. 42) all diplomatic and consular agents abroad are empowered to administer oaths and do notarial acts. At the same time the old practice of persons voluntarily taking oaths before a justice of the peace—e.g. by a debtor as a further security to his creditors, and in various instances not connected with any judicial proceeding—has been put an end to by the statute 5 and 6 Will. IV. chap. 62. It is here enacted that it shall not be lawful for any justice of peace, or other person, to administer or cause to be administered any oath, affidavit, or solemn affirmation, touching any matter of which he has no jurisdiction or cognisance. To some extent it is left to the discretion of the justice whether the particular matter is one as to which it is proper to administer an oath.

Of late years there have been made many alterations of the law as to oaths in relief of persons having conscientious scruples. Relief in this direction was first granted to Quakers, Moravians, and Separatists; they were allowed to make affirmation, whether as witnesses or on other occasions where an oath was formerly required (see AFFIRMATION). A further concession was made in 1854 to those who, not being Quakers, yet refused to take the oath from sincere conscientious motives, such being allowed also to affirm. Previous to 1869 atheists and persons who admitted that they had no religious belief were excluded from giving evidence in courts of justice. This exclusion of the testimony of atheists was put an end to, and at the same time the principle of substituting affirmations for oaths was largely extended by the Evidence Further Amendment Act of 1869 (32 and 33 Vict. chap. 68). This statute provides, 'If any person called to give evidence in any court of justice, whether in a civil or criminal proceeding, shall object to take an oath, or shall be objected to as incompetent to take an oath, such person shall, if the presiding judge is satisfied that the taking of an oath would have no binding effect on his conscience,' make a promise and declaration in a statutory form (sect. 4). When in 1880 Mr Bradlaugh, member for Northampton, claimed to make an affirmation under these Evidence Amendment Acts in lieu of taking the usual parliamentary oath, a select committee of the House of Commons reported that the acts did not apply to the oath taken by members of parliament. This view was confirmed in 1883 by the courts of law in the case of Clarke v. Bradlaugh, 7 Q.B.D. 38. In 1883 the government brought in a bill permitting members of parliament to affirm, but it was lost. Finally, however, in 1888, a short statute, 51 and 52 Vict. chap. 46, provides that every person upon objecting to be sworn, and stating as the ground of such objection either that he has no religious belief, or that the taking of an oath is contrary to his religious belief, shall be permitted to make his solemn affirmation, instead of taking an oath, in all places and for all purposes where an oath is and shall be required by law, which affirmation shall be of the same force and effect as if he had taken the oath; and if any person making such affirmation shall wilfully, falsely, and corruptly affirm anything which, if affirmed on oath, would have amounted to perjury, he shall be liable to prosecution as if he had committed perjury. Further, the Act 52 and 53 Vict. chap. 63, sect. 3, provides that in every statute passed since 1850, unless a contrary intention appears, the expressions 'oath' and 'affidavit,' in the case of persons allowed for the time being to affirm or declare instead of swearing, include affirmation and declaration, and the expression 'swear,' in the like case, includes affirm and declare. All the enactments relating to the administration of oaths are consolidated by the statute 52 Vict. chap. 10, known as the Commissioners for Oaths Act. See Stringer, Oaths and Affirmations in Great Britain (1889).—United States statutes permit the making of affirmation by those who object to take oaths. Some states grant further relaxations than others.