Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against the person - Duties tending to the preservation of life

150A: Standard of care applicable to persons under legal duties or performing unlawful acts

You could also call this:

“When someone has a legal duty or does something illegal, they're only in trouble if they really mess up compared to what a normal person would do.”

This law is about how careful you need to be when you have legal duties or when you’re doing something against the law. It applies to specific duties listed in other parts of the law, like sections 151, 152, 153, 155, 156, and 157. It also applies to some unlawful acts mentioned in section 160, but only if those acts require proof that you were careless or if they’re acts where you’re automatically responsible.

When it comes to these duties or unlawful acts, you’re only criminally responsible if what you do (or don’t do) is much worse than what a reasonable person would do in the same situation. This means that if you make a small mistake, you probably won’t be in trouble with the law. But if you do something that’s really careless or dangerous compared to what most people would do, then you might be held responsible.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM329290.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Previous

150: Misconduct in respect of human remains, or

“Breaking rules about how to treat dead bodies or what to do after someone dies”

Next

151: Duty to provide necessaries and protect from injury, or

“People who look after adults who can't care for themselves must give them what they need and keep them safe.”

Part 8 Crimes against the person
Duties tending to the preservation of life

150AStandard of care applicable to persons under legal duties or performing unlawful acts

  1. This section applies in respect of—

  2. the legal duties specified in any of sections 151, 152, 153, 155, 156, and 157; and
    1. an unlawful act referred to in section 160 where the unlawful act relied on requires proof of negligence or is a strict or absolute liability offence.

      1. For the purposes of this Part, a person is criminally responsible for omitting to discharge or perform a legal duty, or performing an unlawful act, to which this section applies only if, in the circumstances, the omission or unlawful act is a major departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person to whom that legal duty applies or who performs that unlawful act.

      Notes
      • Section 150A: replaced, on , by section 6 of the Crimes Amendment Act (No 3) 2011 (2011 No 79).