Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

Offences - False statements, documents, and corruption

54: Official corruption

You could also call this:

"Accepting or giving bribes in the Armed Forces is against the law"

Illustration for Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

You can commit an offence if you are an official and you accept a bribe for doing something in your job. This can include money or other benefits for you or someone else. You can go to prison for up to 7 years for this. You can also commit an offence if you give a bribe to an official to influence what they do in their job. This can get you a prison term of up to 3 years. A bribe can be money or something else that is valuable, and an official is someone who works for the Armed Forces in a certain role, like running a service mess or being in charge of funds.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM402741.

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

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53: False statements on appointment or enlistment, or

"Telling lies when joining the Armed Forces is against the law"

55: Falsification of service documents, or

"Lying or changing official Armed Forces documents is against the law"

Part 2Offences
False statements, documents, and corruption

54Official corruption

Every person subject to this Act for the time being acting as an official commits an offence, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years, who corruptly accepts or obtains, agrees, or offers to accept, or attempts to obtain any bribe for himself or any other person in respect of any act done or omitted, or to be done or omitted, by him in his official capacity.
Every person subject to this Act commits an offence, and is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, who corruptly gives or offers or agrees to give any bribe to any person with intent to influence any person subject to this Act for the time being acting as an official in respect of any act or omission by him in his official capacity.
For the purposes of this section—
bribe means any money, valuable consideration, office or employment, or any benefit, whether direct or indirect
official means any person subject to this Act who is acting in his official capacity in or in connection with the Armed Forces; and in particular includes any person subject to this Act who is for the time being acting—
1. as an official of a service mess, band, club, canteen, or other service institution; or
2. as a trustee of any unit, mess, or canteen fund, or of any other non-public service fund; or
3. under the control or direction of the Armed Forces Canteen Council.