New Zealand Legislation: Acts

4 Meaning of absconding

• (1) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be treated as having absconded in connection with an offence only if—

  • (a) An information is laid charging the person with the commission of the offence; and

  • (b) A warrant for the arrest of the person is issued in relation to that information; and

  • (c) At the end of the period of 6 months after the warrant was issued, the person—

    • (i) Cannot be found; or

    • (ii) By reason of being outside New Zealand, is not amenable to justice.

  (2) If, at the end of the period referred to in subsection (1)(c) of this section, extradition or rendition proceedings are underway in respect of the offence, the person shall not be treated as having absconded unless and until those proceedings terminate without an order for the person's extradition being made or, as the case may be, without the issue or endorsement of a warrant, or the making of an order, authorising the rendition of that person.

  Compare: Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 (Aust), s 6