Legal Dictionary of Pakistan

obstruction of justice

Interference with the orderly administration of law and justice, as by giving false information to or withholding evidence from a police officer or prosecutor, or by harming or intimidating a witness or juror. ( Obstruction of justice is a crime in most jurisdictions. - Also termed obstructing justice; obstructing public justice. "The goal, - to proscribe every wilful act of corruption, intimidation or force which tends in any way to distort or impede the administration of law either civil or criminal - has been very largely attained, partly by aid of legislation. And any punishable misdeed of such a nature which is not recognized as a distinct crime, is usually called 'obstruction of justice,' or 'obstructing justice,' -a common-law misdemeanor." Rollin M. Perkins & Ronald N. Boyce, Criminal Law 552 (3d ed. 1982).