Legal Definitions - verity

Verity refers to the quality of being true, accurate, and in accordance with reality or established facts. It signifies truthfulness and conformity to what is genuinely factual.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of verity:

• Witness Testimony: During a trial, a witness takes an oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." The court relies on the verity of this witness's testimony, meaning that their statements must be an honest and accurate recollection of events, free from intentional falsehoods or significant inaccuracies.

  This example demonstrates verity as the expectation of truthfulness and factual accuracy in spoken accounts, particularly under legal obligation.

• Official Records: When a government agency publishes a report detailing the results of an environmental study, citizens and other organizations expect the report to possess verity. This means that all data, findings, and conclusions presented must be factually correct, based on sound scientific methodology, and not manipulated or misrepresented.

  This illustrates verity as the demand for factual correctness and integrity in official, documented information.

• Contractual Agreements: In a business transaction, if one party claims that a specific clause in a contract was verbally agreed upon, but the written contract does not include it, the other party might dispute the verity of that claim. They would argue that the written document, which both parties signed, represents the true and accurate terms of their agreement.

  This example shows verity in the context of confirming the truth or accuracy of statements against established, verifiable facts, such as a written agreement.