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Crimes Act 1961

Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice - Escapes and rescues

121: Assisting escape from lawful custody

You could also call this:

“Helping someone get out of jail or other official custody when they're not supposed to”

You can go to prison for up to 7 years if you help someone escape from lawful custody. This includes rescuing someone from custody, helping them escape or try to escape, or bringing things into a prison to help someone escape.

You can also go to prison for up to 7 years if you’re a police officer, security officer, or prison officer and you let someone escape on purpose. Security officers are defined in section 3(1) of the Corrections Act 2004.

If you have a legal duty to keep someone in custody and they escape because you didn’t do your job properly, you can go to prison for up to 1 year.

Even if the arrest or custody wasn’t done exactly right, it’s still considered lawful for this law.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM329019.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Crime and justice > Police and safety
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120: Escape from lawful custody, or

“The law says you can get in trouble if you run away when you're supposed to stay somewhere because of the rules.”

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122: Assisting escape of mentally impaired person detained for offence, or

“ Helping a mentally unwell person escape when they're supposed to be kept safe for breaking a rule ”

Part 6 Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice
Escapes and rescues

121Assisting escape from lawful custody

  1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who—

  2. rescues any person from lawful custody, whether in a prison or not; or
    1. assists any person in escaping or attempting to escape from lawful custody, whether in a prison or not; or
      1. with intent to facilitate the escape of any person lawfully detained in a prison, conveys or causes to be conveyed into any prison any thing whatever.

        1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years who—

        2. being a constable who has any person in his or her lawful custody, voluntarily and intentionally permits that person to escape from such custody:
          1. being a security officer (within the meaning of section 3(1) of the Corrections Act 2004) in whose custody any person is lawfully detained, voluntarily and intentionally permits that person to escape from such custody:
            1. being an officer of a prison in which any person is lawfully detained, voluntarily and intentionally permits that person to escape from the prison.

              1. Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year who, by failing to perform any legal duty, permits any person in his or her lawful custody to escape.

              2. For the purposes of this section, custody under an irregular warrant or other irregular process shall be deemed to be lawful.

              Compare
              • 1908 No 32 ss 144, 145, 146, 147, 149
              • 1954 No 51 Schedule 1
              Notes
              • Section 121(1)(a): amended, on , by section 206 of the Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50).
              • Section 121(1)(b): amended, on , by section 206 of the Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50).
              • Section 121(1)(c): amended, on , by section 206 of the Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50).
              • Section 121(2)(aa): inserted, on , by section 27(1) of the Penal Institutions Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 120).
              • Section 121(2)(aa): amended, on , by section 206 of the Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50).
              • Section 121(2)(b): amended, on , by section 206 of the Corrections Act 2004 (2004 No 50).