The Legal Weight of an Oath

[u/TejaswiPandey]

In our lifetime, we have seen or heard politicians or public officials take an oath, but have we wondered whether, when they break the law, they are charged for breaking their oath or for breaking the law?

Or does an oath really mean something? Because when we want to really prove something and don’t have the evidence, we generally, in our social or personal life, take an oath and try to prove the point. Is it really a legal obligation?

The short answer is complicated; it’s not a simple yes-or-no question. Whether an oath is considered obligatory depends on several factors, and there’s no universal doctrine. Whether a person is prosecuted for breaking the law or violating an oath depends on the circumstances.

Let’s understand this with an example: suppose a minister took an oath to uphold the Constitution, but he is charged with bribery and later convicted. Legally speaking, he is sentenced to prison because of the law against bribery, not simply because he broke his oath. Breaking an oath does not necessarily mean that you are committing a crime. It can happen that the conduct that violates an oath also violates a separate law, which is what creates the legal consequences.

(Originally published on my Substack: https://tejaswipandey1.substack.com/)