Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Matters of justification or excuse - Ignorance of law

25: Ignorance of law

You could also call this:

“Not knowing the rules doesn't mean you can break them without consequences.”

If you don’t know about a law, it doesn’t mean you can break it without consequences. Even if you didn’t realise something was against the law, you can still be held responsible for doing it. The law applies to everyone, whether they know about it or not. This means you can’t use not knowing about a law as an excuse for breaking it.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM328230.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Previous

24: Compulsion, or

"Protection from responsibility if forced to commit a crime due to threats, with exceptions for serious offences"

Next

26: Execution of sentence, process, or warrant, or

"This explains how officials can legally carry out punishments and court orders."

Part 3 Matters of justification or excuse
Ignorance of law

---

25Ignorance of law

  1. The fact that an offender is ignorant of the law is not an excuse for any offence committed by him or her.

Compare
  • 1908 No 32 s 45