Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993

Transitional provisions - Indecent Publications Act 1963

155: Question of indecency arising in court proceedings

You could also call this:

"What happens in court when someone questions if something is indecent"

Illustration for Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993

You are in a court case and a question comes up about something being indecent. This section of the law applies to certain situations, like when a book or sound recording was already being looked at by a tribunal or court before this law started. It also applies when a question about indecency comes up in a court case and it would have been sent to a tribunal before this law started. You need to follow the old law, the Indecent Publications Act 1963, to deal with the matter, as if this new law had not been passed. But if a classification has already been given to the book or sound recording under this new law, then section 152 applies to the decision made by the tribunal or court. This means the decision is treated as if it were made under this new law. If the tribunal's decision is later changed by a court on appeal, then section 152 does not apply to the tribunal's original decision.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM314437.

This page was last updated on 8 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal help

154: Proceedings pending or in train before High Court, or

"What happens to court cases that were already underway when the new law started"

156: Alteration of appeal period, or

"Changing the Time Limit to Appeal a Decision"

Part 10Transitional provisions
Indecent Publications Act 1963

155Question of indecency arising in court proceedings

Notwithstanding anything in sections 152 to 154, this section applies in the following cases:
where, before the commencement of this section, a book or sound recording has been referred to the Tribunal under section 12 or section 18(2) of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and, at the commencement of this section,—
1. those proceedings are pending before the Tribunal; or
2. the Tribunal has made a decision in those proceedings but the period of 28 days referred to in section 19(1) of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 within which any party to the proceedings before the Tribunal is entitled to appeal to the High Court against that decision has not expired, and no such appeal has been lodged; or
3. an appeal to the High Court against the decision of the Tribunal in respect of that referral is pending:
where, before the commencement of this section, a book or sound recording has been referred to the High Court under section 18(2) of the Indecent Publications Act 1963, and, at the commencement of this section, those proceedings are pending before that court:
where, before the date of the commencement of this section, the question referred to in subsection (1) of section 12 of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 has arisen in any civil or criminal proceedings and, by virtue of that section, that question would, before that date, have been required to be referred to the Tribunal for decision and report but has not been so referred before that date:
where, on or after the date of the commencement of this section, the question referred to in subsection (1) of section 12 of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 arises in any civil or criminal proceedings (including proceedings for an offence against that Act or proceedings under the Customs Act 1966) and, by virtue of that section, that question would, before that date, have been required to be referred to the Tribunal for decision and report.

Where this section applies, the following provisions shall apply:
the provisions of the Indecent Publications Act 1963 (including those provisions that confer a right of appeal to the High Court against a decision of the Tribunal) shall continue and be in force for the purposes of dealing with the matter, as if this Act had not been passed:
except where a classification has been given to the book or sound recording under this Act, section 152 shall apply in respect of the decision of the Tribunal or, as the case may be, the High Court on the matter as if it were a decision to which that section applied.

Nothing in subsection (2)(b) shall apply in respect of a decision of the Tribunal in any case where that decision is superseded by a decision of the High Court on an appeal against the Tribunal's decision.