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Parliament Bill

Parliamentary security - Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers - Process D: item Item handed over gives officer reasonable grounds to believe item may constitute threat to security of parliamentary precincts

174: Power to ask to take detected item into temporary custody

You could also call this:

"Leaving items with parliamentary security officers for safekeeping"

If you hand over an item to a parliamentary security officer, they might ask you to leave it with them. This can happen if the officer thinks the item could be a threat to the parliamentary precincts. The officer can ask you to leave the item when you hand it over. If you do not leave the item, the officer can stop you from entering the parliamentary precincts. You can get the item back when you leave the precincts or within 10 working days. If you do not claim the item within 10 working days, the officer can get rid of it. The officer can only ask you to leave the item if certain conditions are met, such as if you handed over the item voluntarily, and if the officer does not think the item is related to a violent offence or a specified offence, as described in section 172(1) or section 176(3)(c). The officer must follow the rules when asking you to leave the item. You have the right to claim the item back within a certain time frame.

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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=LMS918277.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsGovernment and voting > Government departmentsCrime and justice > Police and safety

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"

175: Duty of parliamentary security officer relating to request to take detected item into temporary custody, or

"What a parliamentary security officer must do when asking to hold something"

Part 7Parliamentary security
Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers: Process D: item Item handed over gives officer reasonable grounds to believe item may constitute threat to security of parliamentary precincts

174Power to ask to take detected item into temporary custody

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 neither of the following sections apply:
1. 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 be about to commit, a specified offence):
2. section 173 (which relates to an item handed over that gives an officer reasonable grounds to believe that the item is capable of being used to commit a violent offence or is otherwise dangerous); but
the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the item may otherwise constitute a threat to the security of the parliamentary precincts.

This section also applies if section 176(3)(c) (which relates to an item seized from a person who is released from custody) applies.
A parliamentary security officer may ask the person to leave the item with the officer to be returned when the person leaves the parliamentary precincts.
A parliamentary security officer may exercise the power in subsection (3) immediately after the item is handed over but no later.
A parliamentary security officer may deny a person entry to, or remove a person from, the parliamentary precincts if the person does not comply with a request under subsection (3).
If a person has left an item with a parliamentary security officer in compliance with a request under subsection (3),—
the person may claim the item when leaving the parliamentary precincts or at any time within 10 working days of leaving the item; and
a parliamentary security officer may dispose of the item if it has not been claimed within those 10 working days.