Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against public order - Unlawful assemblies, riots, and breaches of the peace

86: Unlawful assembly

You could also call this:

“When three or more people gather in a way that scares others nearby”

An unlawful assembly happens when three or more people gather together with a shared goal. If they behave in a way that makes people nearby reasonably afraid that the group will use violence against people or property, or cause others to use violence, it’s considered unlawful. However, if you’re doing or saying something you’re allowed to do by law, you’re not seen as needlessly causing others to use violence.

A group that starts as a lawful gathering can become unlawful if they start behaving in a way that would have made their assembly unlawful from the beginning.

If three or more people gather to protect someone’s house from people who are threatening to break in and commit a crime, this is not considered an unlawful assembly.

If you’re part of an unlawful assembly, you could go to prison for up to one year.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM328559.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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85: Use of apparatus for making seditious documents or statements, or

“It used to be against the law to use machines or tools to make things that could upset people about the government, but this rule doesn't exist anymore.”

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87: Riot, or

“When six or more people act together violently, scaring others nearby, it's called a riot and they can go to jail.”

Part 5 Crimes against public order
Unlawful assemblies, riots, and breaches of the peace

86Unlawful assembly

  1. An unlawful assembly is an assembly of 3 or more persons who, with intent to carry out any common purpose, assemble in such a manner, or so conduct themselves when assembled, as to cause persons in the neighbourhood of the assembly to fear, on reasonable grounds, that the persons so assembled—

  2. will use violence against persons or property in that neighbourhood or elsewhere; or
    1. will, by that assembly, needlessly and without reasonable cause provoke other persons to use violence against persons or property in that neighbourhood:provided that no one shall be deemed to provoke other persons needlessly and without reasonable cause by doing or saying anything that he or she is lawfully entitled to do or say.

      1. Persons lawfully assembled may become an unlawful assembly if, with a common purpose, they conduct themselves in such a manner that their assembling would have been unlawful if they had assembled in that manner for that purpose.

      2. An assembly of 3 or more persons for the purpose of protecting the house of any one of their number against persons threatening to break and enter that house in order to commit an offence therein is not unlawful.

      3. Every member of an unlawful assembly is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year.

      Compare
      • 1908 No 32 s 101
      Notes
      • Section 86(1): replaced, on , by section 3 of the Crimes Amendment Act 1973 (1973 No 118).
      • Section 86(3): amended, on , by section 7 of the Crimes Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 27).