You commit an offence if you do not follow a preservation direction without a good reason. If you break this law, you can be punished. You can be jailed for up to one year or fined, depending on who you are.

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This page was last updated on 26 November 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1528035.

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationCrime and justice > Criminal law

79N: Record of pathway information produced under preservation direction, or

"What happens to information collected for an investigation"

79P: False application for preservation direction, or

"It's an offence to give false info when asking to keep something as evidence"

Part 3Enforcement officers' powers and orders
Preservation directions: Offences

79OFailing to comply with preservation direction

A person commits an offence if the person, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a preservation direction.
A person who commits an offence against this section is liable on conviction,—
if they are an individual, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year; or
if they are a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding $40,000.

Notes

Section 79O: inserted, on 1 October 2025, by section 19 of the Budapest Convention and Related Matters Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 39).