 Perjury by witnesses began to be punished before the end of the 15th century by the Star Chamber.The immunity enjoyed by witnesses began also to be whittled down or interfered with by the Parliament in England in 1540 with subornation of perjury and, in 1562, with perjury proper.The punishment for the offence then was in the nature of monetary penalty, recoverable in a civil action and not by penal sanction.