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Customs and Excise Act 2018

Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft - Arrival and departure of goods, persons, and craft - Defences

54: Defences for offences under subpart

You could also call this:

"Defending Yourself Against Charges: What You Can Do to Show You Followed the Law"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

If you are charged with an offence under this part of the law, you can defend yourself by proving that you took all reasonable steps to do what the law requires. You can also defend yourself by proving that you took all reasonable steps to ensure that you did not do something unlawful. This means you must show that you did everything a reasonable person would do in your situation to follow the law.

If you are charged with an offence under certain sections of the law, such as section 34 or 52, this defence does not apply to you. You will have to defend yourself in a different way.

You can also defend yourself if you are charged with an offence under section 28B(1)(b) by proving that you took all reasonable steps to ensure the information you provided was accurate and not wrong in an important way.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039256.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
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Part 3Entry and exit of goods, persons, and craft
Arrival and departure of goods, persons, and craft: Defences

54Defences for offences under subpart

  1. It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under this subpart if the defendant proves—

  2. that, in any case where it is alleged that anything required to be done was not done, the defendant took all reasonable steps to ensure that it was done; or
    1. that, in any case where it is alleged that anything unlawful was done, the defendant took all reasonable steps to ensure that it was not done.

      1. Subsection (1) does not apply to an offence under section 34 or 52.

      2. It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under section 28B(1)(b) if the defendant proves that the defendant took all reasonable steps to ensure that the information provided was not erroneous in a material particular.

      Compare
      Notes
      • Section 54(3): inserted, on , by section 6 of the Customs and Excise (Arrival Information) Amendment Act 2023 (2023 No 21).