District Courts (Categorisation of Offences) Regulations 2008

2008/211

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

District Courts (Categorisation of Offences) Regulations 2008

Anand Satyanand, Governor-General

Order in Council

At Wellington this 14th day of July 2008

Present:
His Excellency the Governor-General in Council

Pursuant to section 123 of the District Courts Act 1947, His Excellency the Governor-General, acting on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council, makes the following regulations.

Regulations

1 Title

  • These regulations are the District Courts (Categorisation of Offences) Regulations 2008.

2 Commencement

  • These regulations come into force on 18 July 2008.

3 Schedule 1A of District Courts Act 1947 amended

  • (1) Part B of Part 1of Schedule 1A of the District Courts Act 1947 is amended—

    • (a) by omitting from the item relating to section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 “, but only where the charge relates to a class B controlled drug” and substituting “where the charge relates to a class A or class B controlled drug”; and

    • (b) by inserting, after the item relating to section 6 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, the item set out in the Schedule of these regulations; and

    • (c) by omitting from the item relating to section 12C of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 “(other than offences against subsection (1)(a))”.

    (2) Part 2 of Schedule 1A of the District Courts Act 1947 is amended by omitting Part J.

4 Transitional provision

  • (1) This regulation applies if a person charged with an offence under section 6(2)(a), 6(2A)(a), 10(1), or 12C(1)(a) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 was, before the commencement of these regulations, committed to the High Court for trial and is awaiting the commencement of that trial.

    (2) Section 168AA(2) (or, when it is in force, section 184Q) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 applies in respect of a defendant in the circumstances referred to in subclause (1) as if at all material times the offence for which the defendant was committed for trial was an offence to which that section applied.

Schedule 
Item added to Part B of Part 1 of Schedule 1A of District Courts Act 1947

r 3

Section 10(1)Aiding offences against corresponding law of another country

Martin Bell,
for Clerk of the Executive Council.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.

These regulations, which come into force on 18 July 2008, amend Schedule 1A of the District Courts Act 1947.

The regulations affect the following offences against the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975:

  • an offence against section 6(2)(a) or 6(2A)(a), which relate to dealing with or conspiring to deal with class A controlled drugs:

  • an offence against section 10(1) of aiding offences against the law of another country:

  • an offence against section 12C(1)(a) of doing or omitting to do an act outside New Zealand that would, if done or omitted in New Zealand, be an offence against section 6.

The amendments to Schedule 1A made by these regulations re-categorise those offences as “middle band” offences triable in either the High Court or the District Court. The amendments enable a High Court Judge to exercise the powers under section 168AA (or, when it comes into force, section 184Q) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 to transfer the trial of these offences to the District Court.

Issued under the authority of the Acts and Regulations Publication Act 1989.

Date of notification in Gazette: 17 July 2008.

These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Justice.