Lying

That's not a sensible question.

Sorry,I wouldn't. I would do every thing I could to prove their innocence but not lie on oath!
I might try to be 'economical with the truth! Well I was a civil servant!'

I think that if I knew the friend was completely innocent.. it would be a complete "no brainer" (I hate that phrase).... I would lie lie lie and have not qualms about it whatsoever.

But would you lie for your family? I would have maintained that the motivation is irrelevant to the deed - i.e. I would not lie for a friend or for/against an enemy. And I have always been proud of my stance that I "would die" for my children, but not lie for them.
As I get older and things seem less black and white, I find myself not so sure.

If I had no confidence in the court - for example, if it was a corrupt court in a totalitarian regime. Or if I thought my friend was being wrongly accused,or fitted up and I had proof that I couldn't stand up but was good enough for me I suppose I would. I think I would avoid taking the oath in those circumstances.

helshea welcome back. You do start interesting threads.
Yes i would. If they were wrongly accused of something that would incur the death penalty. Like a shot I would.
I might even lie if they were under threat of being extradited to an american prison. I think it is completely wrong that people can be extradited and banged up for years to await trial - on the basis of no up front evidence being presented.

I think it is one of those questions that you can answer now and then do completely the opposite if it happened! I don't suppose anyone can be 100% sure what they would do unless it happened. But as you say absent it all depends on the what they had done... which is ridiculous but true. It also depends on what the lie was, which is also crazy because a lie is a lie .. or ist it? Are all lies the same? Is there such a thing as a small lie?

Streuth, that's a bit of a stinker.

1 I believe that lying, other than polite prevarication with no lasting effects to avoid hurting someone's feelings, is wrong.
2 However, I also believe that killing people including judicial execution, is wrong (with the exception of assisted suicide which arguably isn't actually killing someone and abortion in certain instances but not willy nilly).
3 I believe loyalty to friends is important.

I suspect that I would regard number 2 on my list as over-riding, so yes, I should probably lie in those circumstances. Depending on what my friend had actually done wrong – if anything – I might end the friendship immediately afterwards. In any case, the relationship would never be the same again as indebtedness for a kind act or a good deed tends to make the indebted one resentful.

I am glad that a) my friends don't seem to have any criminal tendencies and b) this country did away with the death penalty decades ago. [phew emoticon]

Not on oath! I take swearing on the bible seriously. I took the judicial oath rather than affirmed!

Surely it doesn't have to be possible to be an interesting question. Don't be confused Nelliemoser just interested in such a moral dilemma and all your opinions.

I cannot for the life of me see any circumstance in which the life of a defendent could be threatened if I did or didn't lie for them in court. We don't have the death penalty in the UK. ?? very