Oaths and Declarations Act 1957

Oaths, affirmations, and declarations in general - Oaths and affirmations

6: Unlawful administration of oaths

You could also call this:

"It's against the law to give an oath when you're not supposed to"

Illustration for Oaths and Declarations Act 1957

You must not give an oath to someone if you are not allowed to do so by law. If you do this on purpose, you can get in trouble and have to pay a fine of up to $100. You will not get in trouble if the oath is given to a Justice of the Peace or Community Magistrate for certain reasons, like keeping the peace or for legal proceedings in another country.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM314578.

This page was last updated on 24 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal law

5: Oath not affected by absence of religious belief, or

"An oath is still valid even if you don't have religious beliefs."

7: Persons may make declarations, or

"Anyone can make a declaration if they want to"

Part 1Oaths, affirmations, and declarations in general
Oaths and affirmations

6Unlawful administration of oaths

No person shall administer, or cause or allow to be administered, or cause or allow to be received, any oath, affidavit, or affirmation relating to any matter or thing in respect of which that person has not jurisdiction or cognisance by some law in force for the time being.
Every person who wilfully acts in contravention of subsection (1) commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $100.
Nothing in this section shall extend to any oath, affidavit, or affirmation before any Justice of the Peace or Community Magistrate relating to the preservation of the peace or the prosecution, trial, or punishment of offences, or relating to any proceedings before the House of Representatives or before any Committee thereof, or to any oath, affidavit, or affirmation for the purpose of legal proceedings in any other country or required by the laws of any other country to give validity to any instrument in writing designed to be used in that country.

Compare

1927 No 37 s 299

Notes

Section 6(2): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).
Section 6(3): amended, on 30 June 1998, by section 2 of the Oaths and Declarations Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 81).