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Food Act 2014

Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement - Offences - Liability for offences

247: Liability of director or manager of body corporate

You could also call this:

"Company bosses can be in trouble if their company breaks the law and they knew or helped."

Illustration for Food Act 2014

If you are a director or manager of a company, you can be guilty of an offence if your company breaks the law. You will be guilty if you agreed to or helped with the action that broke the law. You will also be guilty if you knew or should have known the law was being broken and did not try to stop it.

If you are a director or manager, you can be convicted of an offence even if your company is not charged with the same offence. This means you can be held responsible for what your company does, even if the company itself is not punished. You have to make sure your company is following the law, and take action if you think it is not.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM2996365.

Topics:
Food and water safety > Food and water safetyBusiness > Industry rules
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Part 4Provisions relating to recognition, territorial authorities, administration, and enforcement
Offences: Liability for offences

247Liability of director or manager of body corporate

  1. This section applies when a body corporate commits an offence against this Act.

  2. A director or manager of the body corporate is also guilty of the offence if it is proved that the director or manager—

  3. authorised, permitted, consented, or participated in the act or omission that constituted the offence; or
    1. knew, or could reasonably be expected to have known, that the offence was to be or was being committed and failed to take all practicable steps to prevent or stop it.

      1. A director or manager may be convicted of an offence against this section even though the body corporate has not been charged with that offence or a similar offence.