Maritime Transport Act 1994

General offences and provisions in relation to offences and appeals under this Act - General provisions in respect of offences

410: Liability of principal for acts of agents

You could also call this:

"Your boss can get in trouble if you do something wrong at work, even if they didn't do it themselves."

If you do something wrong under the Maritime Transport Act 1994 as an agent or employee of someone else, your boss can also get in trouble. You and your boss can both be liable, which means you can both be charged with the offence. Your boss is liable in the same way as if they had done the wrong thing themselves.

If your boss is taken to court because of something you did, they have a defence if they can prove they did not know about the offence and could not have reasonably known about it. They also have a defence if they can prove they took all reasonable steps to prevent the offence from happening.

If your boss is a company, the company has a defence if it can prove that the people in charge of the company did not know about the offence and could not have reasonably known about it. The company also has a defence if it can prove it took all reasonable steps to prevent the offence from happening and to fix any problems caused by the offence. If a company breaks the law, the directors and managers can also get in trouble if they knew about the offence and did not try to stop it. You can compare this to the 1991 law to see how it has changed.

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This page was last updated on 25 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM338368.

409: Additional penalty for offence involving commercial gain, or

"Paying extra if you break the rules for personal financial gain"

411: Limitation of proceedings, or

"Time limit to be charged for a maritime offence"

Part 28General offences and provisions in relation to offences and appeals under this Act
General provisions in respect of offences

410Liability of principal for acts of agents

Where an offence is committed against this Act by any person acting as the agent or employee of another person, that other person shall, without prejudice to the liability of the first-mentioned person, be liable under this Act in the same manner and to the same extent as if he, she, or it had personally committed the offence.
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1), where any proceedings are brought by virtue of that subsection, it shall be a good defence if the defendant proves,—
in the case of a natural person (including a partner in a firm), that—
1. he or she did not know nor could reasonably be expected to have known that the offence was to be or was being committed; or
2. he or she took all reasonable steps to prevent the commission of the offence:
in the case of a body corporate, that—
1. neither the directors nor any person involved in the management of the body corporate knew or could reasonably be expected to have known that the offence was to be or was being committed; or
2. the body corporate took all reasonable steps to prevent the commission of the offence:
in all cases, that the defendant took all reasonable steps to remedy any effects of the act or omission giving rise to the offence.

Where any body corporate is convicted of an offence against this Act, every director and every person concerned in the management of the body corporate shall be guilty of the like offence if it is proved—
that the act that constituted the offence took place with his or her authority, permission, or consent; and
that he or she knew or could reasonably be expected to have known that the offence was to be or was being committed and failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent or stop it.

Compare

1991 No 69 s 340