Parliament Act 2025

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

174: Power to ask person to surrender detected item

You could also call this:

"What happens if a parliamentary 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 if you agree to surrender the item while you are in the parliamentary precincts. If you do not agree, the officer can stop you from entering or remove you from the precincts. If you do agree, the officer must follow certain rules, as outlined in section 178(4)(b) and (d) and (5), to deal with the item. This is because the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the item is a risk. You should be aware that the officer's decision is based on the item you handed over, and what they think it could be used for. The officer's actions are guided by the rules in the Parliament Act 2025, which include section 171(1) and section 173. The officer must consider whether the item is capable of being used to commit an offence involving violence within the parliamentary precincts.

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

This page was last updated on 25 December 2025 — View changes

Topics:

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

173: Power to seize detected item connected to specified offence, or

"Security officers can take items from you if they think you might commit a crime"

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

"What happens if a parliamentary security officer asks for an item from you"

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

174Power to ask person to surrender detected item

This section applies if—
a person complies with a request under section 171(1) to hand over a detected item; and
the parliamentary security officer considers that section 173 (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 178(4)(b) and (d) and (5).

Compare

1999 No 115 s 16(1)(b), (3)