Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Matters of justification or excuse - Breach of the peace

42: Preventing breach of the peace

You could also call this:

“Police and bystanders can step in to stop fights and arguments, and hold people who are causing trouble until the police arrive.”

If you see someone causing trouble or fighting in public, you can step in to stop it. You can even hold onto the person who’s causing the trouble until a police officer arrives. But remember, you can only use as much force as you need to stop the trouble. You shouldn’t use more force than is needed to keep everyone safe.

Police officers who see trouble happening can arrest anyone they catch causing it. Other people can help the police officer do this too.

If you’ve seen someone causing trouble and you tell a police officer about it, the officer can take that person into custody. The officer can also take someone into custody if they believe you saw the person causing trouble, even if they didn’t see it themselves.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM328261.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Crime and justice > Police and safety
Previous

41: Prevention of suicide or certain offences, or

“You can use reasonable force to stop someone from hurting themselves or others, or damaging property.”

Next

43: Suppression of riot, or

“People can use reasonable force to stop a dangerous group disturbance if it's necessary to prevent harm.”

Part 3 Matters of justification or excuse
Breach of the peace

42Preventing breach of the peace

  1. Every one who witnesses a breach of the peace is justified in interfering to prevent its continuance or renewal, and may detain any person committing it, in order to give him or her into the custody of a constable:

    provided that the person interfering shall use no more force than is reasonably necessary for preventing the continuance or renewal of the breach of the peace, or than is reasonably proportionate to the danger to be apprehended from its continuance or renewal.

  2. Every constable who witnesses a breach of the peace, and every person lawfully assisting him or her, is justified in arresting any one whom he or she finds committing it.

  3. Every constable is justified in receiving into custody any person given into his or her charge, as having been a party to a breach of the peace, by one who has witnessed it or whom the constable believes on reasonable and probable grounds to have witnessed it.

Compare
  • 1908 No 32 s 66