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Crown Minerals Act 1991

Permits, access to land, and other matters - Enforcement, remedies, and appeals - Criminal liability for knowingly failing to carry out certain obligations

89ZZY: Defence to criminal liability for directors

You could also call this:

"Directors are not guilty if they tried to make their company follow the rules"

Illustration for Crown Minerals Act 1991

If you are a director and someone takes you to court under section 89ZZX(3), you have a defence. You can say you took all reasonable steps to ensure your company would meet its decommissioning obligations. You can also say that in the circumstances, you could not reasonably have been expected to take steps to ensure your company would meet its decommissioning obligations. The meaning of some words in this section is explained in section 89ZZX.

When we talk about "A" in this section, we mean what is said in section 89ZZX. We also mean that "A's decommissioning obligations" has the meaning set out in section 89ZZX. You can find out more about what "A" and "A's decommissioning obligations" mean by looking at section 89ZZX.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS624609.

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Part 1BPermits, access to land, and other matters
Enforcement, remedies, and appeals: Criminal liability for knowingly failing to carry out certain obligations

89ZZYDefence to criminal liability for directors

  1. In any proceeding against a director under section 89ZZX(3), it is a defence if the director proves that—

  2. A took all reasonable steps to ensure A would meet A’s decommissioning obligations; or
    1. the director took all reasonable steps to ensure that A would meet A’s decommissioning obligations; or
      1. in the circumstances, the director could not reasonably have been expected to take steps to ensure that A would meet A’s decommissioning obligations.

        1. In this section,—

          A has the meaning set out in section 89ZZX

            A’s decommissioning obligations has the meaning set out in section 89ZZX.

            Notes
            • Section 89ZZY: inserted, on , by section 18 of the Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 53).