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Immigration Act 2009

Detention and monitoring - Warrants of commitment and release on conditions

324E: Decision on application for release on conditions (claimant)

You could also call this:

"A Judge decides if you can leave detention with rules to follow"

Illustration for Immigration Act 2009

If you are a claimant, a District Court Judge will make a decision about your application for release on conditions. You can be released on conditions if the Judge is satisfied that you are the person named in the application. The Judge must also be satisfied that it is safe to release you. The Judge can release you on conditions if a craft is likely to be available to take you from New Zealand soon. The Judge can also release you if the reasons you could not leave New Zealand before still exist, but not for too long. If none of these conditions apply, the Judge can still release you if it is in the public interest. When deciding whether to release you on conditions, the Judge must consider if you pose a threat or risk. The Judge must also make sure any conditions are reasonable and necessary to manage that threat or risk. The Judge can think about how you entered New Zealand when deciding if you pose a threat or risk, but they cannot decide you are a threat just because you entered New Zealand irregularly.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1561287.

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324D: Decision on application for release on conditions (non-claimant), or

"A judge decides if you can leave detention with conditions"

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Part 9Detention and monitoring
Warrants of commitment and release on conditions

324EDecision on application for release on conditions (claimant)

  1. This section applies to a person who a District Court Judge is satisfied is a claimant.

  2. On an application under section 324C, a District Court Judge may—

  3. order the person’s release on conditions; or
    1. issue a warrant of commitment in the prescribed form authorising the person’s detention, in a place named in the warrant, for a period of up to 28 days.

      1. A Judge may release the person on conditions if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the person in custody is the person named in the application and that any 1 or more of the following apply:

      2. a craft is likely to be available, within the proposed period of the release on conditions, to take the person from New Zealand:
        1. the reasons why a craft was not available to take the person from New Zealand continue to exist and are likely to continue to exist, but not for an unreasonable period:
          1. the other reasons the person was not able to leave New Zealand continue to exist and are likely to continue to exist, but not for an unreasonable period.

            1. If subsection (3) does not apply, the Judge may still order the person’s release on conditions if the Judge is satisfied that, in all the circumstances, it is in the public interest to do so.

            2. In determining under this section whether to order the person’s release on conditions, or whether to issue a warrant of commitment, the Judge must be satisfied that,—

            3. on the basis of the application under section 324C and the information contained in it, the person poses a clearly articulated threat or risk; and
              1. the conditions are reasonable in all the circumstances, proportionate, and the least restrictive measure necessary to manage that threat or risk.

                1. A District Court Judge—

                2. may consider a person’s irregular entry into New Zealand when assessing whether the person poses a clearly articulated threat or risk; but
                  1. may not be satisfied that the person poses a clearly articulated threat or risk solely on the ground that the person entered New Zealand irregularly.

                    Notes
                    • Section 324E: inserted, on , by section 47 of the Immigration (Fiscal Sustainability and System Integrity) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 75).