Crimes Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 436
Crimes Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 436
Crimes Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 436
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No 436
House of Representatives
Amendment Paper
Crimes Amendment Bill
Proposed amendments
Hon Paul Goldsmith, in Committee, to move the following amendments:
Clause 2
In clause 2 (page 3, after line 5), insert as subclauses (2) to (4):
(2)
However, sections 30A to 30E come into force on a date set by Order in Council.
(3)
Any part of the Act that has not come into force 6 months after Royal assent comes into force then.
(4)
An Order in Council made under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).
Subpart 1 heading in Part 2
In Part 2, in the subpart 1 heading (page 11, line 30), replace “Amendment”
with “Amendments”
.
New clauses 30A to 30E
After clause 30 (page 12, after line 3), insert:
Removing property from retail premises without payment
30A New section 14AA inserted (Removing property from retail premises without payment)
After section 14, insert:
14AA Removing property from retail premises without payment
(1)
A person commits an infringement offence if, without reasonable excuse, the person removes property from a retail premises without payment.
(2)
A person who commits an infringement offence against this section is liable to a fine imposed by a court not exceeding—
(a)
$750 if the value of the property removed is equal to or less than $500; or
(b)
$1,500 if the value of the property removed is more than $500.
(3)
In this section, retail premises means a building, place, or part of a building or place, where goods are offered for sale to members of the public or a section of the public, but does not include a private home where any of the owner’s or occupier’s property is being sold.
30B Sections 38A to 38C replaced
Replace sections 38A to 38C with:
38A Interpretation
In sections 38B to 38E,—
infringement fee,—
(a)
for an infringement offence under section 14AA(1), means—
(i)
$500 if the value of the property removed is equal to or less than $500; or
(ii)
$1,000 if the value of the property removed is more than $500; and
(b)
for an infringement offence under section 38(3), means $200
infringement offence means an offence under section 14AA(1) or 38(3).
38B Infringement offences
(1)
A person who is alleged to have committed an infringement offence may—
(a)
be proceeded against by the filing of a charging document under section 14 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011; or
(b)
be issued with an infringement notice under section 38C.
(2)
Proceedings commenced in the way described in subsection (1)(a) do not require the leave of a District Court Judge or Registrar under section 21(1)(a) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957.
(3)
No person arrested under section 39 may be issued with an infringement notice under section 38C.
(4)
See section 21 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 for the procedure that applies if an infringement notice is issued.
38C When infringement notice may be issued
A constable may issue an infringement notice to a person if the constable believes on reasonable grounds that the person is committing, or has committed, an infringement offence.
38CA Revocation of infringement notice before payment made
(1)
The Police may revoke an infringement notice before—
(a)
the infringement fee is paid; or
(b)
an order for payment of a fine is made or deemed to be made by a court under section 21 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957.
(2)
The Police must take reasonable steps to ensure that the person to whom the notice was issued is made aware of the revocation of the notice.
(3)
The revocation of an infringement notice before the infringement fee is paid is not a bar to any further action as described in section 38B(1)(a) or (b) against the person to whom the notice was issued in respect of the same matter.
38CB What infringement notice must contain
An infringement notice must be in the form prescribed in the regulations made under section 38E and must contain the following particulars:
(a)
details of the alleged infringement offence that fairly inform a person of the time, place, and nature of the alleged offence:
(b)
the amount of the infringement fee:
(c)
the address of the place where the infringement fee may be paid:
(d)
how the infringement fee may be paid:
(e)
the time within which the infringement fee must be paid:
(f)
a summary of the provisions of section 21(10) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957:
(g)
a statement that the person served with the notice has a right to request a hearing:
(h)
a statement of what will happen if the person served with the notice neither pays the infringement fee nor requests a hearing:
(i)
any other matters prescribed in the regulations.
38CC How infringement notice may be served
(1)
An infringement notice may be served on the person who the constable who issued the infringement notice believes is committing or has committed the infringement offence by any constable—
(a)
delivering it to the person or, if the person refuses to accept it, bringing it to the person’s notice; or
(b)
leaving it for the person at the person’s last known place of residence with another person who appears to be of or over the age of 14 years; or
(c)
leaving it for the person at the person’s place of business or work with another person; or
(d)
sending it to the person by prepaid post addressed to the person’s last known place of residence or place of business or work or last known postal address; or
(e)
sending it to the person by electronic means to an electronic address of the person.
(2)
Unless the contrary is shown,—
(a)
an infringement notice (or a copy of it) sent by prepaid post to a person under subsection (1) is to be treated as having been served on that person on the fifth working day after the date on which it was posted; and
(b)
an infringement notice sent to a valid electronic address is to be treated as having been served at the time the electronic communication first entered an information system that is outside the control of the Police.
(3)
In this section, unless the context otherwise requires, electronic address, in relation to a person, means—
(a)
an electronic address that the person has given to the Police; or
(b)
otherwise, the person’s last known electronic address.
30C New section 38DA inserted (Service of reminder notices)
After section 38D, insert:
38DA Service of reminder notices
Despite section 24(1)(e) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, a reminder notice may be served on a person for the purposes of section 21(2) of that Act by serving the notice in accordance with section 38CC(1)(d) or (e) in addition to the other modes of service set out in section 24(1) of that Act and without otherwise limiting or affecting the operation of section 24 of that Act.
30D Section 39 amended (Arrest)
(1)
In section 39(1), replace “sections 17”
with “sections 14AA, 17”
.
(2)
In section 39(2), replace “sections 17”
with “sections 14AA, 17”
.
30E Section 40 amended (Jurisdiction)
In section 40(2), after “7,”
insert “14AA,”
.
Schedule
In the Schedule, Part 1, after the item relating to the Summary Offences Act 1981 (page 15, before line 6), insert:
Summary Proceedings Act 1957 (1957 No 87)
In section 2(1), definition of infringement notice, after paragraph (jm), insert:
(jn)
section 38C of the Summary Offences Act 1981; or
Explanatory note
This Amendment Paper amends the Crimes Amendment Bill (the Bill). The Amendment Paper inserts clauses that amend the Summary Offences Act 1981 (the Act) by creating a new infringement offence for removing property from retail premises without payment, and updating the procedural provisions relating to infringement offences that are currently in the Act.
Clause 2 of the Bill is amended to provide for a delayed commencement for the provisions contained in this Amendment Paper. These clauses will come into force on a date set by Order in Council or, if no Order in Council is made, 6 months after the Bill receives Royal assent. The delayed commencement of these clauses is to allow the Police time to implement the new provisions relating to the existing infringement offence and the new infringement offence.
This Amendment Paper inserts new clause 30A into the Bill. This clause amends the Act to insert new section 14AA. New section 14AA creates an infringement offence for removing property, without reasonable excuse, from a retail premises without payment. A person who commits this infringement offence is liable to an infringement fine imposed by the court. If the value of the property removed is equal to or less than $500, the infringement fine may be up to $750. If the value of the property removed is more than $500, the infringement fine may be up to $1,500. The new infringement offence will apply to property removed from retail premises, which are defined as a place where goods are offered for sale to the public or part of the public, but not including a private home from which a person sells their property.
New clause 30B replaces sections 38A to 38C of the Act with new sections 38A to 38CC. New section 38A defines the terms infringement fee and infringement offence. This infringement regime will apply to the new section 14AA infringement offence and the infringement offence under section 38(3) as is currently provided for by the Act, which relates to a person under 18 years old being intoxicated or consuming alcohol in public. New section 38A also sets the infringement fees for these sections. In relation to the new section 14AA infringement offence, the infringement fee is $500 if the value of the property removed is equal to or less than $500, and $1,000 if the value is more than $500. The infringement fee for the section 38(3) offence remains the same at $200.
New section 38B sets out that a person who is alleged to have committed an infringement offence may be proceeded against by filing a charging document, or can be issued with an infringement notice.
New section 38C sets out the circumstances in which a constable may issue an infringement notice to a person.
New section 38CA provides the power for the Police to revoke an infringement notice before payment is made.
New section 38CB sets out the content of an infringement notice and requires it to be in the form prescribed in regulations made under section 38E of the Act. These requirements ensure that a person who is issued with an infringement notice is fairly informed as to how they are alleged to have committed an infringement offence.
New section 38CC sets out how an infringement notice may be served. It may be served by any constable.
New clause 30C inserts into the Act new section 38DA, which sets out how a reminder notice may be served. This infringement regime departs from the standard service provisions in section 24(1)(e) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 by allowing service by sending the notice to an email address in all cases (not only in cases where the person does not have a known place of residence or business) or to the person’s last known postal address. The requirements for the content of the reminder notice are provided for in section 21(2AA) of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957.
New clause 30D amends section 39 of the Act to include the new section 14AA infringement offence in the list of offences against the Act for which a constable may not arrest a person without warrant, but may arrest a person they believe to have committed an offence if they fail to give their name and address on demand, or if they give a false name or address.
New clause 30E amends section 40 of the Act to include the new section 14AA infringement offence in the list of offences that can be presided over by 2 or more Justices or 1 or more Community Magistrates.
This Amendment Paper also adds a consequential amendment to the Bill’s Schedule that amends the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 to include an infringement notice issued under new section 38C in that Act’s definition of infringement notice.
Departmental disclosure statement
The Ministry of Justice is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Amendment Paper. The disclosure statement provides access to information about any material policy changes to the Bill and identifies any new significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill as amended.
A copy of the statement can be found at http://legislation.govt.nz/disclosure.aspx?type=ap&subtype=government&year=2025&no=436&
Regulatory impact statement
The Ministry of Justice produced a regulatory impact statement on 28 May 2025 to help inform the new policy decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of this Amendment Paper.
A copy of this regulatory impact statement can be found at—
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Crimes Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 436
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