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Parliament Act 2025

Parliamentary security - Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers - Powers to detain person

181: Power to use handcuffs

You could also call this:

"When parliamentary security can use handcuffs on you"

Illustration for Parliament Act 2025

You can be handcuffed by a parliamentary security officer if they think you might run away or hurt yourself or others. The officer can keep the handcuffs on you until they think you are no longer a risk or a Police officer decides what to do with you. If a Police officer arrests you, they will decide if the handcuffs stay on, but if they decide not to arrest you, the parliamentary security officer must remove the handcuffs.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS918284.

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Topics:
Crime and justice > Police and safety
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180: Power to detain person, or

"When can a parliamentary security officer stop and hold you for a short time?"

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182: General power to deny person entry to, or remove person from, parliamentary precincts, or

"Security officers can stop you entering or remove you from Parliament if you might cause trouble."

Part 7Parliamentary security
Powers and duties of parliamentary security officers: Powers to detain person

181Power to use handcuffs

  1. A parliamentary security officer may handcuff a detained person if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person—

  2. may abscond if not handcuffed; or
    1. may harm themselves or others if not handcuffed.

      1. The parliamentary security officer may keep the handcuffs on the person until one of the following circumstances occurs:

      2. the parliamentary security officer becomes aware that the reasonable grounds for believing that subsection (1)(a) or (b) applies to the person have ceased to apply, in which case the officer must remove the handcuffs:
        1. a Police officer arrests the person, in which case the Police officer must decide whether the handcuffs are to stay on:
          1. a Police officer decides that the person will not be arrested, in which case a parliamentary security officer must remove the handcuffs.

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