Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

Offences - Offences involving guard duty, violence, and insubordination

34: Offences by or in relation to a person on guard duty or on watch

You could also call this:

"Rules for people on guard duty to keep others safe"

Illustration for Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

You are on guard duty if you are ordered to patrol or protect a place, person, or thing. This includes stopping people from entering or leaving a place, or controlling traffic. You have to stay awake and alert while on guard duty. If you are on guard duty, you must not sleep, get drunk, or leave your post without a good reason. If you do any of these things, you can get in trouble. You can even go to prison for a long time if you do something wrong while on guard duty. You must also not hurt or threaten someone who is on guard duty. This includes using force or threatening to use force to get past them. If you do hurt or threaten someone on guard duty, you can go to prison. The prison sentence can be longer if you do something wrong while on active service.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM402707.

This page was last updated on 1 January 2026 — View changes

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33: Failure to suppress or report mutiny, or

"Not stopping or telling about a planned mutiny can get you in big trouble"

35: Violence to a superior officer, or

"Hitting or being violent to someone in charge of you in the armed forces is against the law."

Part 2Offences
Offences involving guard duty, violence, and insubordination

34Offences by or in relation to a person on guard duty or on watch

Every reference in this section to a person on guard duty shall be construed as a reference to a person who is ordered to patrol, or who is a member of a guard or other party mounted or ordered to patrol, or who is posted, for the purpose of—
protecting any person, place, or premises, or any ship, vehicle, aircraft, weapons, or other equipment or stores; or
preventing or controlling entry to or departure from any place, premises, ship, vehicle, or aircraft; or
regulating traffic by land, water, or air.

Every person subject to this Act commits an offence who, while on guard duty or watch—
sleeps at his post or on watch; or
not being on duty at a post, sleeps at a time when it is his duty to be awake; or
is drunk; or
without lawful excuse, leaves his post or otherwise absents himself from a place where it is his duty to be.

For the purposes of paragraph (c) of subsection (2), a person is drunk if, owing to the influence of alcohol or a drug (not being a drug administered by, or taken in accordance with the directions of, a person lawfully authorised to administer the drug), whether alone or in combination with each other or in combination with any other circumstances, he is unfit to be entrusted with his duty.
Every person who commits an offence against subsection (2) while on active service is liable to imprisonment for life or, if the offence is committed at any other time, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.
Every person subject to this Act commits an offence who—
strikes any person (not being an enemy) who is on guard duty or on watch; or
otherwise than by striking, uses force against any person (not being an enemy) who is on guard duty or on watch; or
by threat of force, compels any person (not being an enemy) who is on guard duty or on watch to allow him or any other person to pass.

Every person who commits an offence against subsection (5) while on active service is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or, if the offence is committed at any other time, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.