It came as a surprise to read a correspondent’s letter regarding the lies told in the law courts.

As a non-Maltese, I have been asking around whether perjury exists in Maltese law because I have heard so many gross lies being told in courts and being accepted by the members of the judiciary that it is indeed hard to believe that perjury is punished by law here as well.

In my experience, some of what is said is so obviously untrue that one cannot help wondering why these people are not put in their place. What kind of justice is this? What kind of people are those who claim to be Catholics and commit perjury without batting an eyelid?

Maybe there is a basic lack in education. Maybe people do not know what it entails to take an oath or perhaps they simply do not know the difference between the truth and a lie because they are so busy trying to steal the show in what very often looks no better than a farce.