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Oaths Act 1978
1978 CHAPTER 19
An Act to consolidate the Oaths Act 1838 and the Oaths Acts 1888 to 1977, and to repeal, as obsolete, section 13 of the Circuit Courts (Scotland) Act 1828.[30th June 1978]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
General provisions as to enactment and operation
Part I
Attempts etc.
Manner of administration of oaths. 1.—(1) Any oath may be administered and taken in England, Wales or Northern Ireland in the following form and manner:—
- The person taking the oath shall hold the New Testament, or, in the case of a Jew, the Old Testament, in his uplifted hand, and shall say or repeat after the officer administering the oath the words “I swear by Almighty God that . . . . . .”, followed by the words of the oath prescribed by law.
(2) The officer shall (unless the person about to take the oath voluntarily objects thereto, or is physically incapable of so taking the oath) administer the oath in the form and manner aforesaid without question.
(3) In the case of a person who is neither a Christian nor a Jew, the oath shall be administered in any lawful manner.
