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Parliament Bill

Parliamentary security - Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers - Process C: item Item handed over gives officer reasonable grounds to believe item is capable of being used to commit violent offence or is otherwise dangerous

173: Power to ask persons to surrender detected item

You could also call this:

"What happens if a security officer asks you to hand over a suspicious item"

If you hand over an item to a parliamentary security officer, they might ask you to give it up. This happens if the officer thinks the item could be used to commit a violent offence or is dangerous. The officer will ask you if you agree to surrender the item. If you do not agree, the officer may not let you into the parliamentary precincts or may ask you to leave. If you do agree, the officer must follow certain rules to deal with the item, as outlined in section 172(1) and section 176(3)(b) and (d) and (4). The officer's decision depends on what you decide to do with the item.

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This page was last updated on 9 November 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1028310.

Topics:

Crime and justice > Police and safetyGovernment and voting > Government departments

172B: Power to seize detected item connected to specified offence, or

"When can a parliamentary security officer take something from you?"

173A: Duty of parliamentary security officer relating to request to surrender detected item, or

"What happens if a parliamentary security officer asks you to hand over something"

Part 7Parliamentary security
Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers: Process C: item Item handed over gives officer reasonable grounds to believe item is capable of being used to commit violent offence or is otherwise dangerous

173Power to ask persons to surrender detected item

This section applies if—
a person complies with a request under section 172(1) to hand over a detected item; and
the parliamentary security officer considers that section 172B (which relates to an item handed over that gives an officer reasonable grounds to believe that a person may recently have committed, or may be about to commit, a specified offence) does not apply; but
the item handed over gives the officer reasonable grounds to believe that—
1. it is capable of being used to commit an offence involving violence within the parliamentary precincts; or
2. it would otherwise be dangerous to allow the person to keep it with them in the parliamentary precincts.

A parliamentary security officer may ask the person whether they consent to surrender the item while the person is in the parliamentary precincts and,—
if the person does not consent, may deny the person entry to, or remove the person from, the parliamentary precincts; or
if the person does consent, must treat the item in accordance with section 176(3)(b) and (d) and (4).