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Contempt of Court Act 2019

Provisions to promote and facilitate administration of justice - Dealing with disruptive behaviour relating to court proceedings

10: Judicial officer may cite disruptive behaviour

You could also call this:

"What happens if you behave badly in court and disrupt things on purpose"

Illustration for Contempt of Court Act 2019

If you are in a court and a judicial officer thinks you are being disruptive on purpose, they can take action. You might be disrupting the court by being noisy or refusing to follow the court's rules. The judicial officer can then decide what to do with you.

The judicial officer can choose to do one or more things, such as asking you to leave the courtroom or citing you for disruptive behaviour. If you are cited for disruptive behaviour, the judicial officer can order you to be taken into custody until the court finishes for the day.

A police officer or court officer can enforce the judicial officer's order, which means they can take you into custody or remove you from the courtroom. If you are taken into custody, you will be dealt with according to the procedure outlined in section 11, which explains what happens next.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS24806.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpCrime and justice > Police and safety
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9: Further provisions applying for purpose of section 7, or

"Rules to follow when the court orders information to be removed or hidden"

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11: Procedure for dealing with person cited for disruptive behaviour, or

"What happens if you disrupt a court and how you might be punished"

Part 2Provisions to promote and facilitate administration of justice
Dealing with disruptive behaviour relating to court proceedings

10Judicial officer may cite disruptive behaviour

  1. This section applies if a judicial officer believes that any person is—

  2. wilfully disrupting the proceedings of a court; or
    1. wilfully and without lawful excuse disobeying any order or direction of the court in the course of the hearing of any proceedings.

      1. The judicial officer may take 1 or more of the following actions:

      2. order that the person be excluded from the sitting of the court:
        1. cite the person for disruptive behaviour and order that the person be taken into custody and detained until a time no later than the time the court rises for the day.

          1. Any constable or officer of the court, with or without the assistance of any other person, is authorised to execute the order and may take the person into custody or remove the person in accordance with the order.

          2. Any person taken into custody under this section must be dealt with in accordance with the procedure in section 11, which applies for the purpose of this subpart.