Crimes Act 1961

Jurisdiction

8: Jurisdiction in respect of crimes on ships or aircraft beyond New Zealand

You could also call this:

"Criimes on ships or planes outside New Zealand can still get you in trouble"

If you do something wrong on a ship or aircraft outside New Zealand, you can still get in trouble. This applies if you are on a Commonwealth ship, a New Zealand aircraft, or a ship or aircraft that comes to New Zealand. You can also get in trouble if you are a British subject on a foreign ship on the high seas or in another country's waters.

If you do something wrong on a ship or aircraft outside New Zealand, and it would be a crime if you did it in New Zealand, then you can be charged with that crime. It does not matter where the ship or aircraft was when you did the wrong thing. You can be punished as if you did the wrong thing in New Zealand.

There is a defence if you can prove that what you did would not have been a crime in the country where you are from. You can use this defence if you are charged with a crime under this section.

This section also applies to people who belong to a Commonwealth ship, even if they are not on the ship when they do something wrong. It applies to acts done on shore or on the water.

The law treats the Republic of Ireland and its citizens as if they were part of the Commonwealth. This means that the same rules apply to them as to other Commonwealth countries.

You should read this section with section 400.

In this section, a British subject includes a British protected person.

This section does not apply to crimes against the Maritime Transport Act 1994 or subpart 20 of Part 9 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023.

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This page was last updated on 4 August 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM328038.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal lawTransport and travel > Air travelTransport and travel > Boating

7B: Attorney-General's consent required where jurisdiction claimed under section 7A, or

" You need the top lawyer's okay to take someone to court for certain crimes if they're not in New Zealand "

8A: Jurisdiction in respect of certain persons with diplomatic or consular immunity, or

" New Zealand can prosecute certain diplomatic staff for serious crimes committed overseas "

Part 1Jurisdiction

8Jurisdiction in respect of crimes on ships or aircraft beyond New Zealand

This section applies to any act done or omitted beyond New Zealand by any person—
on board any Commonwealth ship; or
on board any New Zealand aircraft; or
on board any ship or aircraft, if that person arrives in New Zealand on that ship or aircraft in the course or at the end of a journey during which the act was done or omitted; or
being a British subject, on board any foreign ship (not being a ship to which he or she belongs) on the high seas, or on board any such ship within the territorial waters of any Commonwealth country; or
being a New Zealand citizen or a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand, on board any aircraft:

provided that paragraph (c) shall not apply where the act was done or omitted by a person, not being a British subject, on any ship or aircraft for the time being used as a ship or aircraft of any of the armed forces of a country that is not a Commonwealth country.

If a person does or omits to do any act to which this section applies, and that act or omission would, if it occurred within New Zealand, be an offence, under this Act or any other enactment (whether that enactment was passed before or after the commencement of this Act), punishable by imprisonment for life or by 2 or more years' imprisonment, then, subject to the provisions of this Act and that other enactment, the person is liable on conviction as if the act or omission had occurred in New Zealand.
If any proceedings are taken by virtue of the jurisdiction conferred by this section, it is a defence to prove that the act or omission would not have been an offence under the law of the country of which the person charged was a national or citizen at the time of the act or omission, if it had occurred in that country.
Where at any place beyond New Zealand any person who belongs, or within 3 months previously has belonged, to any Commonwealth ship does or omits any act, whether on shore or afloat, not being an act or omission to which subsection (1) applies, and that act or omission would, if it occurred within New Zealand, be an offence punishable by imprisonment for life or by 2 or more years' imprisonment, then this section shall apply in respect of that act or omission in the same manner in all respects as if it had occurred on board a Commonwealth ship.
The provisions of this section shall have the same operation in relation to the Republic of Ireland and to the citizens thereof, and to ships registered therein or belonging thereto, and to persons who belong or have belonged to those ships, and to all other persons on board those ships, as if the Republic of Ireland were a Commonwealth country and as if the citizens thereof were British subjects.
This section shall be read subject to the provisions of section 400.
In this section, the expression British subject includes a British protected person within the meaning of the British Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948.
Nothing in this section shall apply with respect to any offence against the Maritime Transport Act 1994 or subpart 20 of Part 9 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023.

Compare

1908 No 32 s 4A(2)
1948 No 77 s 8
1953 No 120 ss 2, 3, 4, 6

Notes

Section 8(2): replaced, on 1 July 2013, by section 4(1) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 27).
Section 8(2A): inserted, on 1 July 2013, by section 4(1) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 27).
Section 8(3): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 4(2) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 27).
Section 8(7): amended, on 5 April 2025, by section 486 of the Civil Aviation Act 2023 (2023 No 10).
Section 8(7): amended, on 1 July 2013, by section 4(3) of the Crimes Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 27).
Section 8(7): amended, on 1 June 2004, by section 41(3) of the Civil Aviation Amendment Act 2004 (2004 No 8).
Section 8(7): amended, on 1 February 1995, pursuant to section 202(1) of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 (1994 No 104).