Also known as: on pain of forfeiture · on pain of perjury · under penalty of · subject to penalty of
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A phrase indicating that failure to comply with a requirement or command will result in the imposition of a specified penalty or consequence.
Orla O'Malley gave a recorded statement during a pretrial deposition describing events at a construction site. At trial she offered a different account of the same events. The prior deposition statement was offered to show the inconsistency because it had been made on pain of perjury.
Opal Okoro submitted a genetic testing report in a parentage action. The laboratory designee signed the report on pain of perjury. The court treated the signed report as self-authenticating evidence of biological parentage.
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Olive Okafor faced drug charges supported by laboratory certificates stating the substances seized. The certificates were prepared on pain of perjury yet the analysts did not appear. The defense objected that the certificates could not be admitted without live testimony.
Oriana Oberman published an editorial criticizing a city official's performance. The official sued for libel. The court permitted recovery of damages only on pain of proving actual malice. The court required the plaintiff to prove actual malice before liability could attach.
Odette Orozco sued a pacemaker manufacturer after the device failed. Federal preemption barred the claim on pain of conflicting with FDA requirements. The court dismissed the action because the device had received premarket approval.
Orlando Okafor and his partner applied for a marriage license in a state that refused recognition. The state enforced its restriction on pain of denying the license. The couple challenged the denial as violating due process and equal protection.
The phrase signals that noncompliance with the stated requirement will trigger the named penalty. Primary authorities use the phrase to attach consequences such as perjury liability or dismissal to required acts. The consequence must be clearly identified for the command to be enforceable.
Supporting sources
A statement made on pain of perjury satisfies the oath requirement in Rule 801(d)(1)(A). That status allows the statement to be offered for its truth when inconsistent with later testimony. Without the perjury sanction the statement remains hearsay.
Supporting sources
Under the Uniform Parentage Act a genetic testing report signed on pain of perjury by a laboratory designee is self-authenticating. The same sanction appears in other uniform acts to validate filed records. The signature alone supplies the required assurance of accuracy.
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Conditioning a loan rate on a certification made on pain of perjury raises privacy concerns when the certification probes marital decisions. The sanction increases the coercive effect of the requirement. Courts examine whether the condition directly burdens a protected right.
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…153-154.) A rule compelling the critic of official conduct to guarantee the truth of all his factual assertionsand to do so on pain of libel judgments virtually unlimited in amount leads to a comparable "self-censorship." Allowance of the defense of truth, with the burden of proving it on the defendant, does not mean that…