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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

General provisions - Conduct of proceeding - Withdrawal and dismissal of charges

146: Withdrawal of charge generally

You could also call this:

"The prosecutor can stop a charge before a trial with the court's okay."

Illustration for Criminal Procedure Act 2011

The prosecutor can stop a charge before the trial if the court says it is okay. You need to know that stopping a charge does not mean the case is closed forever. The court can still look at the same matter again.

If you are accused of a crime that is not very serious, a Registrar can stop the charge if you agree to it. The prosecutor has to ask to stop the charge first. This is part of the law that is explained in the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 and it has been compared to a law from 1957 No 87.

A Registrar gets this power if you agree to the charge being stopped, but only for less serious crimes. The law says the prosecutor can stop the charge before the trial with the court's permission. This is how the law works when it comes to stopping charges.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3360236.

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146A: Withdrawal of charge due to risk to national security interests, or

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Part 5General provisions
Conduct of proceeding: Withdrawal and dismissal of charges

146Withdrawal of charge generally

  1. The prosecutor may, with the leave of the court, withdraw a charge before the trial.

  2. The withdrawal of a charge under this section is not a bar to any other proceeding in the same matter.

  3. A Registrar may, in respect of any offence other than a category 4 offence, exercise the power under subsection (1) if the defendant consents to the prosecutor withdrawing the charge.

Compare
Notes
  • Section 146 heading: amended, on , by section 25 of the Security Information in Proceedings (Repeals and Amendments) Act 2022 (2022 No 72).
  • Section 146(3): inserted, on , by section 6 of the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act 2016 (2016 No 61).