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Crimes Act 1961

Crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and crimes against public welfare - Sexual offences outside New Zealand

144AB: Party or accessory liability for sexual acts with children or young people outside New Zealand done by, or involving, foreigner principal parties

You could also call this:

“ New Zealanders can get in trouble for helping or covering up when foreigners do sexual things with kids outside New Zealand. ”

This law talks about what happens if you help someone from another country do sexual things with children or young people outside of New Zealand. If you’re a New Zealander and you help a foreigner do sexual acts with a child or young person in another country, you can get in trouble. You can be charged as if you did the crime yourself or helped after it happened.

For this law, a New Zealander is someone who is a citizen of New Zealand or lives there most of the time. A foreigner is someone who isn’t a New Zealand citizen and doesn’t usually live in New Zealand.

The law also explains what it means by ‘sexual acts with a child or young person’ and ‘sexual offences with a child or young person’. These are defined in another part of the law called section 144A.

If you help someone do these things, or help them after they’ve done it, you can be charged under section 66 or sections 71 and 312 of the law. This is true even if the act happened in another country, as long as it would be a crime if it happened in New Zealand.

This law doesn’t change other parts of the law about helping with crimes or sexual offences outside New Zealand. Those parts are still important too.

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 It might be out of date or be missing some parts.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=DLM6469009.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal law
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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144A: Sexual conduct with children and young people outside New Zealand, or

“New Zealand citizens or residents can be punished for sexual acts with young people in other countries.”

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144B: Consent of Attorney-General required, or

“The Attorney-General must agree before someone can be officially accused of a sexual crime committed outside New Zealand.”

Part 7 Crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and crimes against public welfare
Sexual offences outside New Zealand

144ABParty or accessory liability for sexual acts with children or young people outside New Zealand done by, or involving, foreigner principal parties

  1. A New Zealander is a party under section 66, an accessory after the fact, or both, to a New Zealand sexual offence with a child or young person outside New Zealand if,—

  2. a sexual act with a child or young person is done or to be done, outside New Zealand, by 1 or more principal parties who are foreigners; and
    1. the New Zealander does, outside New Zealand, an act with, or in respect of, the act done or to be done by the 1 or more foreigners; and
      1. had both acts been done in New Zealand, the New Zealander would be a party under section 66, an accessory after the fact, or both, to a sexual offence with a child or young person.

        1. In this section,—

          accessory after the fact means an accessory after the fact under sections 71 and 312

            foreigner means a person who—

            1. is not a New Zealand citizen; and
              1. is not a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand

                New Zealand sexual offence with a child or young person outside New Zealand means an offence against section 144A(1)(a), (b), or (c)

                  New Zealander means a person who—

                  1. is a New Zealand citizen; or
                    1. is a person ordinarily resident in New Zealand

                      party under section 66 includes a party under that section as extended by section 70

                        sexual act with a child or young person means an act to which section 144A(2), (3), or (4) applies

                          sexual offence with a child or young person means an offence against a section specified in section 144A(2)(a), (b), or (c), (3)(a), (b), or (c), or (4).

                          1. This section does not limit or affect section 69(3) or 144C (whether used with, or apart from, section 66).

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                            Notes
                            • Section 144AB: inserted, on , by section 6 of the Crimes (Indecency) Amendment Act 2015 (2015 No 44).