Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Crimes Act 1961

Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences

310: Conspiring to commit offence

You could also call this:

“If you plan with someone to break the law, you can get in trouble, even if you don't actually do it.”

If you make a plan with someone else to commit a crime, you could be punished. This is called conspiring to commit an offence. It doesn’t matter if the crime was going to happen in New Zealand or somewhere else in the world. If the crime you planned would usually be punished by more than 7 years in prison, you could go to prison for up to 7 years for planning it. If the crime you planned would usually be punished by less than 7 years in prison, you could get the same punishment as if you had actually done the crime.

There are some exceptions to this rule. If there’s already a specific punishment for planning a certain crime, that punishment will be used instead of this one. Also, if you planned to do something in another country that isn’t a crime there, you can use that as a defence if you’re charged with conspiracy in New Zealand.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM330794.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
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309: Conspiring to prevent collection of rates or taxes, or

“It's against the law to team up with others to stop people from collecting money that the government is allowed to ask for.”

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311: Attempt to commit or procure commission of offence, or

“You can get in trouble for trying to do a crime or getting someone else to do it, even if the crime doesn't happen.”

Part 11 Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences

310Conspiring to commit offence

  1. Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), every one who conspires with any person to commit any offence, or to do or omit, in any part of the world, anything of which the doing or omission in New Zealand would be an offence, is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years if the maximum punishment for that offence exceeds 7 years' imprisonment, and in any other case is liable to the same punishment as if he or she had committed that offence.

  2. This section shall not apply where a punishment for the conspiracy is otherwise expressly prescribed by this Act or by some other enactment.

  3. Where under this section any one is charged with conspiring to do or omit anything anywhere outside New Zealand, it is a defence to prove that the doing or omission of the act to which the conspiracy relates was not an offence under the law of the place where it was, or was to be, done or omitted.

Compare
  • 1908 No 32 ss 347, 348