Ex officio oath

The ex-officio oath (also known as the Star Chamber oath) was an English judicial and ecclesiastical weapon developed in the first half of the seventeenth century, and used as a form of coercion, persecution, and forcible self-incrimination in the religious trials of that era. It took the form of a religious oath made by the accused prior to questioning by the Star Chamber, to answer truthfully all questions that might be asked. It gave rise to what became known as the "cruel trilemma" where the accused would find themselves trapped between a breach of religious oath (taken extremely seriously in that era, a mortal sin, and perjury), contempt of court for silence, or self-incrimination. The name derives from the questioner putting the accused on oath ex officio, meaning by virtue of his office or position.