The Crimes Act 1961 is an act of New Zealand Parliament that forms a leading part of the criminal law in New Zealand. It repeals the Crimes Act 1908, itself a successor of the Criminal Code Act 1893. Most crimes in New Zealand are created by the Crimes Act, but some are created elsewhere. All common law offences are abolished by section 9, as are all offences against acts of the British Parliaments, but section 20 saves the old common law defences where they are not specifically altered.
The Crimes Act is administered by the Ministry of Justice. The act has 14 parts dealing with various issues including jurisdiction, punishments, "matters of justification and excuse", crimes against the public order, crimes affecting the administration of law and justice, "crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and crimes against public welfare", "crimes against the person", property crimes, and "threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences." Over the years, the legislation has been amended by several new acts, including the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, the Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 ("anti-smacking law"), the Crimes Amendment Act (No 2) 2008, and the Abortion Legislation Act 2020.
Key provisions Punishments (Part 2) Section 13 of the Crimes Act states that the powers of the courts under other acts will not be affected by the Crimes Act. The sections relating to the death penalty and putting under bond have been repealed. In 2026, legislation dealing with labour exploitation, sexual exploitation and human trafficking were strengthened and updated. The language around "unauthorised migrants" was also updated to include both not possessing legal documents required by the state and documents obtained by fraud, deception and forgery.
Section 17 bans solitary confinement as a form of punishment. Section 19 empowers the High Courts to impose fines.
Sections 35 to 56 were amended in 2026 to strengthen citizen's arrest powers in the defence of property and preventing escape by alleged offenders.
Matters of justification or excuse (Part 3) Includes infancy, insanity, compulsion, ignorance of law, sentence or process, arrest, use of force, breach of the peace, defence against assault, defence of property, peaceable entry, powers of discipline, surgical procedures, and other general provisions.
Sections 21 and 22 establish the defence of infancy. Children aged under 10 years old are assumed incapable of committing a crime and cannot be charged with any crime. Children aged between 10 and 14 years inclusive have the rebuttable presumption of incapacity to commit a crime; they cannot be charged unless the prosecution can prove the child knew what they were doing was a criminal offence.
Sections 50, 169 and 170 dealt with the provocation defence which mitigated fatal assaults to the lesser charge and penalty due to manslaughter, rather than murder. Section 50, which define provocation, was repealed by section 2(1) of the Crimes Amendment Act 1980. Sections 169 and 170 was repealed in December 2009 through bipartisan consent with the exception of the ACT New Zealand party.
Crimes against public order (Part 5) Includes treason and other crimes against the King and the State; offence of oath to commit offence; unlawful assemblies, riots, and breaches of the peace; piracy; slave dealing; participation in criminal gang; and smuggling and trafficking in people.
Section(s) of act ANZSOC code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 73–75 Treason – conspiracy or attempt Life imprisonment (mandatory) 14 years 77 Mutiny 10 years 78 Espionage 14 years 79 1559 Sabotage 10 years 87 1313 Riot 2 years 92–94 1559 Piracy 14 years 98 0521 Dealing in slaves 14 years 98A Participation in organised criminal group 10 years 98C Smuggling migrants 20 years
Crimes affecting the administration of law and justice (Part 6) Includes bribery and corruption; contravention of statute; misleading justice; and escapes and rescues.
Section(s) of act ANZSOC code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 101 Bribery of judicial officer 7 years 102 Corruption and bribery of Minister of the Crown – Ministers receiving bribes – people giving bribes 14 years7 years 103 Corruption and bribery of Member of Parliament 7 years 104 1542 Corruption and bribery of law enforcement officer 7 years 109 1561 Perjury 7 to 14 years 110 1561 False oaths 5 years 111 1561 False statements and declarations 3 years 119 1511 Breaking prison 7 years
Crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and public welfare (Part 7) Includes crimes against religion; crimes against morality and decency; sexual crimes; sexual offences outside New Zealand; and crimes against public welfare.
Section(s) of act ANZSOC code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 128–128B 0311 Sexual violation (incl. rape) 20 years 129 0311 Attempted sexual violation, assault with intent to commit sexual violation 10 years 130 0311 Incest 10 years 131 0311 Sexual conduct with dependent family member – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act 7 years 7 years 3 years 131B 0321 Meeting young person following sexual grooming, etc. 7 years 132 0311 Sexual conduct with a child under 12 – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act 14 years 10 years 10 years 134 0311 Sexual conduct with a young person under 16 – sexual connection – attempted sexual connection – indecent act 10 years 10 years 7 years 135 0312 Indecent assault 7 years 143 1325 Bestiality 7 years 144A Sexual conduct with children and young people outside New Zealand as per sections 132 and 134 144C 0321 Organising or promoting child sex tours 7 years 150 Misconduct in respect to human remains (illegal exhumation, necrophilia) 2 years
Crimes against the person (Part 8) Includes duties tending to the preservation of life; homicide; murder and manslaughter; abortion; assaults and injuries to the person; female genital mutilation; bigamy and feigned marriage; and abduction and kidnapping.
Section(s) of act ANZSOC Code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 171A Manslaughter by strike to head or neck life imprisonment 172 0111 Murder Life imprisonment 173 0121 Attempt to murder 14 years 175 0100 Conspiracy to murder 10 years 177 0131 Manslaughter Life imprisonment 178 0131 Infanticide 3 years 179 0131 Aiding and abetting suicide 14 years 182 0131 Killing unborn child 14 years 183 1695 Abortion procured by person other than health practitioner 5 years 188 0211, 0212 Wounding with intent 7 to 14 years 188A Wounding with intent by strike to head or neck 15 years 189 0211, 0212 Injuring with intent 5 to 10 years 189A 0211, 0212 Strangulation or suffocation 7 years 189 (2) Injuring a first responder or frontline corrections worker with intent 7 years 192 0211, 0212 Aggravated assault (including against first responders and frontline corrections workers) 3 years 193 0211, 0212 Assault with intent to injure 2 years 193 (2) and (3) Assaulting a first responder or frontline corrections worker with intent to injure 5 years 194 0211, 0212 Assault on a child, or by a male on a female 2 years 194A 0211, 0212 Assault on person in family relationship 2 years 195 0491 Ill-treatment or neglect of child or vulnerable adult 10 years 195A 0491 Failure to protect child or vulnerable adult 10 years 196 0213 Common assault 1 year 198 0299 Discharging firearm or doing dangerous act with intent 7 to 14 years 198A 0211, 0212 Using any firearm against law enforcement officer, etc. 10 to 17 years 198B 0211, 0212 Commission of crime with firearm 10 years 204A-204B Female genital mutilation and ancillary offences 7 years 206 1329 Bigamy 2 to 14 years 208 0511 Abduction for purposes of marriage or sexual connection 14 years 209 0511 Kidnapping 14 years
Crimes against rights of property (Part 10) Section(s) of act ANZSOC code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 219A Theft in offensive, insulting, or disorderly manner - value up to $2,000 2 years 220–223 0811, 0813, 0821, 0823, 0829, 0991 Theft or stealing – by persons in special relationship – of livestock and other animals – value $1001 or more – value $501 to $1000 – value up to $500 7 years 7 years 7 years 1 year 3 months 226 0812 Conversion of vehicle or other conveyance 7 years 231 0711 Burglary 10 years 231A 0711 Entry onto agricultural land with intent to commit imprisonable offence 10 years 234 0612 Robbery 10 years 241 Punishment of obtaining by deception or causing loss by deception 1 year (and/or $2,000 fine) 243 0831 Money laundering 5 to 7 years 247 Punishing of receiving stolen goods 1 year (and/or $2,000 fine) 250 0499 Damaging or interfering with computer system 7 to 10 years 256 0921, 0922 Forgery 3 to 10 years 266 0921 Counterfeiting 7 years 267 1211 Arson 7 to 14 years
Threatening, conspiring, and attempting to commit offences (Part 11) Section(s) of act ANZSOC code Offence Maximum penalty (imprisonment) 306 0532 Threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm 7 years 310 Conspiring to commit offence (where not explicitly stated elsewhere) 7 years or the maximum imprisonment for the crime, whichever is less 312 Accessory after the fact to crime (where not explicitly stated elsewhere) – to crimes punishable by life imprisonment – to all other crimes 7 years 5 years or half the maximum imprisonment for the crime, whichever is less
History Prior to the 1880s, the colony of New Zealand made few changes to the English criminal law adopted in 1840, aside from adopting the 1861 English reforms in 1867. One recommendation from the commissioners that consolidated the New Zealand statutes, prior to enactment of the Statutes Revision Act 1879 that allowed for their reprinting, was that the criminal law should be codified in a way that suited New Zealand conditions, rather than merely adopting similar legislative changes being debated in 1880 by the British Parliament. A Criminal Code bill was first drafted in 1883 and introduced into the House of Representatives in June that year. However, over the next 10 years the bill's passage through the Parliament failed to achieve majority support at various stages, despite repeated introductions and initial support. The bill was finally passed at the end of September 1893 and the Criminal Code Act 1893 received royal assent on 6 October 1893.
Enactment of the Consolidated Statutes Enactment Act 1908 on 4 August 1908 resulted in the Criminal Code Act 1893 being consolidated into the Crimes Act 1908. The 1908 act was further consolidated and amended with the passage of the Crimes Act 1961 on 1 November 1961.
Amendments The Crimes Act has been substantially amended since 1961:
Punishment (Part 2) Section 14 of the Crimes Act 1961 allowed death sentences. However, due to growing general public opposition to the death penalty, reformist New Zealand National Party Minister of Justice Ralph Hanan and other National MPs exercised a conscience vote and voted with the abolitionist New Zealand Labour Party to forbid judges passing sentence of death other than in cases of treason. That was the functional abolition in New Zealand, with no one executed after this date. In 1989, the death penalty was formally abolished by the Fourth Labour Government.
Matters of justification or excuse (Part 3) The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment Act 2007 abolished Section 59 of the Crimes Act, which had previously allowed parental corporal punishment of children, despite opposition from religious social conservatives and others.
Crimes against morality and decency, sexual crimes, and public welfare (Part 7) Amendments in 1985 resulted in crime of rape being replaced with one of sexual violation, a similar offence but without gender specificity. Further changes in 2005 resulted in gender specificity being removed from all criminal sexual offences.