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Parliament Bill

Parliamentary privilege - Other provisions relating to parliamentary privilege - Contempt

29: House of Representatives may impose fine for contempt of House of Representatives

You could also call this:

"House of Representatives can fine you for being disrespectful"

Illustration for Parliament Bill

If you do something that disrespects the House of Representatives, they can decide to fine you up to $1,000. You will have to pay this fine, and it will be enforced like any other fine under the Summary Proceedings Act 1957. The House of Representatives will send a copy of the fine to the District Court at Wellington. If you get a fine, you will be sent a copy of the resolution that imposed the fine. The District Court will make sure you pay the fine, following the same rules as any other fine. You might also face other penalties for disrespecting the House of Representatives, not just a fine. The House of Representatives can still penalise you in other ways, even if they fine you. This means you could face more than one penalty for the same action. The fine is just one way the House of Representatives can respond to someone who disrespects them.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS804164.

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"The House of Representatives cannot put people in prison for being disrespectful."

Part 2Parliamentary privilege
Other provisions relating to parliamentary privilege: Contempt

29House of Representatives may impose fine for contempt of House of Representatives

  1. If the House of Representatives determines that a person has committed a contempt of the House of Representatives, it may by resolution impose a fine of up to $1,000 on the person.

  2. The fine is payable and enforceable under the Summary Proceedings Act 1957, as if it were a fine within the meaning of section 79(1) of that Act.

  3. The Clerk must ensure that a copy of the resolution imposing the fine is sent to the Registrar of the District Court at Wellington.

  4. The Registrar must—

  5. serve a copy of the resolution on the person who has committed the contempt as if the resolution contained the same information (other than appeals information) as a notice of fine under section 84 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957; and
    1. ensure that the fine is enforced in accordance with Part 3 of that Act, which applies with all necessary modifications to the enforcement of the fine.

      1. This section does not limit or affect the House of Representatives’ powers to penalise a person for a contempt by imposing a penalty other than a fine on the person (whether the other penalty is instead of or as well as a fine).