Summary Offences Act 1981

Loitering and trespass

29: Being found on property, etc, without reasonable excuse

You could also call this:

"Being on someone's property without a good reason can get you in trouble"

Illustration for Summary Offences Act 1981

You can get in trouble if you are found on someone's property without a good reason. This includes being in a building, an enclosed yard, or on a ship, train, or vehicle. You could be fined up to $2,000 or put in prison for up to 3 months. If a police officer finds you in one of these places without a good reason, but you don't seem to be planning to do anything else wrong, they can warn you to leave instead of arresting you. If you refuse to leave, you could be fined up to $500. It's not necessary for the police to prove you were planning to do something else wrong, but you can defend yourself by saying you didn't have any bad intentions. You should check the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 for more information about changes to this law.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM53592.

This page was last updated on 11 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Police and safetyHousing and property > Home safety and repairsHousing and property > Land use

28: Being found in public place preparing to commit offence, or

"Getting ready to commit a crime in a public place"

30: Peeping or peering into dwellinghouse, or

"Looking into someone's house at night without a good reason is against the law"

29Being found on property, etc, without reasonable excuse

Every person is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or a fine not exceeding $2,000 who is found without reasonable excuse—
in or on any building; or
in any enclosed yard or other such area; or
in or on board any aircraft, hovercraft, or ship or ferry or other vessel, train, or vehicle.

It is not necessary in a prosecution under this section for the prosecutor to prove that the defendant had an intention to commit any other offence, but it is a defence if the defendant satisfies the court that he had no such intention.
If any constable finds a person in any place referred to in subsection (1), without reasonable excuse but in circumstances that do not cause the constable to suspect an intention to commit any other offence, the constable may, instead of arresting him for an offence against subsection (1), warn that person to leave that place and, if the person refuses or fails to do so, he is liable to a fine not exceeding $500.

Compare

1927 No 35 ss 52(1)(i), 54
1954 No 50 s 40(1)
1967 No 154 s 2(1)

Notes

Section 29(1): amended, on 1 January 1998, by section 7 of the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 97).
Section 29(3): amended, on 1 January 1998, by section 7 of the Summary Offences Amendment Act 1997 (1997 No 97).