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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Legislation Act 2019

Interpretation and application of legislation - General definitions and interpretation provisions

17: When sending by post is taken as done

You could also call this:

"When you properly post a document, it's considered sent and received on the expected delivery day."

When you send a document by post, it is considered sent if you address it correctly, pay for the postage, and post it. You do this when a law says you must send a document by post, no matter what words the law uses, like "serve", "give", or "send". The document is considered received when it would normally be delivered by the postal service.

If someone proves that this is not what happened, then the rules about when the document is considered sent or received do not apply. You can also look at Part 4 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 to see how electronic communications work. This part of the law talks about when electronic communications are considered received.

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Part 2Interpretation and application of legislation
General definitions and interpretation provisions

17When sending by post is taken as done

  1. This section applies to legislation that authorises or requires a document to be sent by post (whether the expression serve, give, or send, or any other expression, is used).

  2. The document is taken to be sent if it is properly addressed, prepaid, and posted as a postal article.

  3. The document is taken to be received at the time at which it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

  4. However, subsection (2) or (3) does not apply if the contrary is proved.

  5. See also Part 4 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, which provides for the deemed timing and receipt of electronic communications.