Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

 Plain Language Law homepage
Back to
59: Parental control
or “Parents can use reasonable force to keep kids safe and well-behaved, but not to punish them.”
You could also call this:

“Rules about using force to keep people behaving well on ships and planes”

If you’re on a ship or an airplane, the person in charge (like the captain or pilot) can use force to keep everyone safe and well-behaved. They can also tell other people to use force if they think it’s really necessary. But they have to have good reasons for doing this, and the force they use must be reasonable for the situation.

If you’re not the person in charge, but you’re asked to help keep order on the ship or plane, you can use force too. As long as you’re trying to do the right thing and following orders from the captain or pilot, it’s okay to use reasonable force.

What counts as a good reason to use force, and how much force is reasonable, depends on the specific situation. These things would be decided based on the facts of what happened.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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

Next up: 61: Surgical operations

or “This law protects doctors from getting in trouble when they do surgery to help someone, as long as they are careful and the surgery makes sense for the patient.”
Next

Part 3 Matters of justification or excuse
Powers of discipline

60Discipline on ship or aircraft

  1. The master or officer in command of a ship on a voyage or the pilot in command of an aircraft on a flight is justified in using and ordering the use of force for the purpose of maintaining good order and discipline on board his or her ship or aircraft if he or she believes on reasonable grounds that the use of force is necessary, and if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances.

  2. Every one acting in good faith is justified in using force in obedience to any order given by the master or officer or pilot in command for the purpose aforesaid, if the force used is reasonable in the circumstances.

  3. The reasonableness of the grounds on which the use of force was believed to be necessary, and the reasonableness of the force used, are questions of fact.

Compare
  • 1908 No 32 s 85(2), (3)