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Contempt of Court Act 2019

Preliminary provisions

6: Act binds the Crown

You could also call this:

"The government must follow the rules in this law, just like everyone else."

Illustration for Contempt of Court Act 2019

This Act applies to the Crown, which means the government. You need to know that the Crown includes government departments and officers of the Crown. The Crown must follow the rules in this Act.

If the Crown breaks a rule, a court can't issue a warrant or fine the Crown. A court also can't make some types of orders against the Crown, the Attorney-General, or government departments. This is to avoid any doubt about what a court can do.

But if the Crown breaks a court order, you can ask a court to say so. You can do this by seeking a declaratory order under the Declaratory Judgments Act 1908. This means a court can say if the Crown has broken a rule, even if the court can't fine the Crown.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS24787.

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Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpGovernment and voting > Government departments
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Part 1Preliminary provisions

6Act binds the Crown

  1. This Act binds the Crown.

  2. However, to avoid doubt, a court may not issue a warrant, impose a fine, or make an order under section 16(4)(a) or (b) against the Crown, the Attorney-General, a government department as defined in section 2(1) of the Crown Proceedings Act 1950, or an officer of the Crown.

  3. Nothing in subsection (2) prevents any person seeking a declaratory order under the Declaratory Judgments Act 1908 that the Crown, Attorney-General, government department, or officer of the Crown is in breach of a judgment or order against the Crown.