Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

CRIMINAL CODE 2002 - SECT 715

    (1)     A person commits an offence if the person makes an accusation to a law enforcement officer that someone else has committed an offence—

        (a)     knowing or believing that the other person did not commit the offence; and

        (b)     intending that—

              (i)     the other person will be charged with committing the offence; or

              (ii)     law enforcement officers will be deflected from prosecuting the offender.

Maximum penalty: 500 penalty units, imprisonment for 5 years or both.

    (2)     Subsection (1) (b) (i) does not apply to a law enforcement officer exercising his or her functions as a law enforcement officer if the officer—

        (a)     does not know that the other person did not commit the offence; and

        (b)     believes that there are reasonable grounds for charging the other person with the offence.

    (3)     A law enforcement officer commits an offence if the officer charges someone with an offence knowing that the person did not commit the offence.

Maximum penalty: 1 000 penalty units, imprisonment for 10 years or both.