Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

Offences - Parties, accessories, and attempts

76: Attempts to commit offences against this Act

You could also call this:

"Trying to Break the Law in the Armed Forces"

Illustration for Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971

If you try to commit a crime against the Armed Forces Discipline Act, you can get in trouble. You do not actually have to commit the crime, just trying to is enough. If you are found guilty of trying to commit a crime, you can get the same punishment as if you had actually done it. If you do something to try to commit a crime, it is considered an attempt if it is closely connected to the crime. You do not need to have done something that clearly shows you intended to commit the crime. The court will decide if what you did was just getting ready to commit the crime or if it was actually an attempt. You can be punished for trying to commit a crime, even if it was not possible to actually commit it. The court will look at what you did and decide if it was an attempt to commit a crime. If you are found guilty, you can get the same punishment as if you had actually committed the crime, as stated in the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 1989.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM402789.

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

Topics:

Crime and justice > Criminal law

75: Parties to the commission of offences against this Act, or

"Helping someone commit a crime makes you a part of the crime too"

77: Accessories after the fact, or

"Helping someone who broke the law to escape or avoid arrest"

Part 2Offences
Parties, accessories, and attempts

76Attempts to commit offences against this Act

Every person subject to this Act who, having an intent to commit an offence against any provision of this Act, does or omits an act for the purpose of accomplishing his object, is guilty of an attempt to commit the offence intended, whether in the circumstances it was possible to commit the offence or not.
The question as to whether an act done or omitted with intent to commit an offence against this Act is or is not only preparation for the commission of that offence, and too remote to constitute an attempt to commit it, is a question of law.
An act done or omitted with intent to commit an offence against this Act may constitute an attempt if it is immediately or proximately connected with the intended offence, whether or not there was any act unequivocally showing intent to commit that offence.
Every person who is convicted of an attempt to commit an offence against this Act is liable to the same punishment as if that person had actually committed the offence.

Notes

Section 76(4): substituted, on 26 December 1989, by section 5(6) of the Abolition of the Death Penalty Act 1989 (1989 No 119).