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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

Trial - Provisions applying to both Judge-alone and jury trials - Alibi

111: Alibi

You could also call this:

"Saying you were somewhere else when a crime happened, and giving proof to back it up"

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

If you are accused of a crime, you might say you were somewhere else when it happened, this is called an alibi. You can give evidence to support your alibi, which means showing you were at a different place at the time of the crime. The court can decide when this evidence is given, and it can be given before or after evidence that tries to disprove your alibi. You can give evidence that shows you were at a particular place or area at a particular time, which means you were not at the place where the crime happened. The court has rules about when this evidence can be given, and it can be given at different times, even after evidence that tries to disprove your alibi has been given, you can check the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 for more information, and it is similar to a law from 1961, which you can find on the legislation website.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3360192.

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Part 4Trial
Provisions applying to both Judge-alone and jury trials: Alibi

111Alibi

  1. Any evidence tendered to disprove an alibi may, subject to any directions by the court as to the time when it is to be given, be given before or after evidence is given in support of the alibi.

  2. For the purposes of this section, evidence in support of an alibi means evidence tending to show that by reason of the presence of the defendant at a particular place or in a particular area at a particular time he or she was not, or was unlikely to have been, at the place where the offence is alleged to have been committed at the time of its alleged commission.

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