Commerce Act 1986

Enforcement, remedies, and appeals - Restrictive trade practices

82C: Defence relating to exceptions to cartel prohibition

You could also call this:

"You have a defence against cartel charges if you reasonably thought an exception applied"

Illustration for Commerce Act 1986

If you are being prosecuted under section 82B, you have a defence if you believed that one or more of the exceptions in Part 2 applied to what you did. You must have had reasonable grounds for this belief at the time of the alleged contravention. You can refer to the exceptions in Part 2 to see if they apply to your situation.

If you thought an exception applied because you did not know the law, or you misunderstood it, this defence does not apply to you. The defence only works if your belief was based on reasonable grounds, not on ignorance or mistake of the law.

You can look at section 82B and Part 2 to understand what you can and cannot do, and what exceptions might apply to your situation, by following the links to section 82B and Part 2.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS485454.


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82B: Offence relating to cartel prohibition, or

"Breaking rules about working together to fix prices or control markets is against the law."


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82D: Disclosure by defendant in cartel prosecution, or

"Telling the prosecution about exceptions in a cartel case"

Part 6Enforcement, remedies, and appeals
Restrictive trade practices

82CDefence relating to exceptions to cartel prohibition

  1. In a prosecution under section 82B, it is a defence if, at the time of the alleged contravention, the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that 1 or more of the exceptions set out in Part 2 applied in relation to the conduct that constituted the alleged contravention.

  2. However, the defence does not apply if the defendant’s belief is based on ignorance, or mistake, of any matter of law.

Notes
  • Section 82C: inserted, on , by section 4 of the Commerce (Criminalisation of Cartels) Amendment Act 2019 (2019 No 9).