Section 43 — Crimes Act 1914: Attempting to pervert justice

(1) A person commits an offence if: (a) the person attempts to obstruct, to prevent, to pervert or to defeat the course of justice in relation to a judicial power; and (b) the judicial power is the judicial power of the Commonwealth. Penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years. (2) Absolute liability applies to the paragraph (1)(b) element of the offence. Note: For absolute liability, see section 6.2 of the Criminal Code. (3) For the person to be guilty of an offence against subsection (1), the person’s conduct must be more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence. The question whether conduct is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the offence is one of fact. (4) A person may be found guilty of an offence against subsection (1) even if doing the thing attempted is impossible.