5 - Managing suspects and offenders

Question 1

Offensive weapon definition

Answer 1

In subsection (4)(a) of this section offensive weapon means any article made or altered for use for causing bodily injury, or intended by the person having it with him for such use.

Question 2

NZ Bill of Rights Act obligations on Police

Answer 2

s21 – protection against unreasonable search and seizure
s22 – protection against arbitrary arrest and detention
s23 – rights of persons arrested or detained
s24 – rights of persons charged with an offence
s25 – minimum standards of criminal procedure.

Question 3

A person will be regarded as detained if

Answer 3

• there is physical deprivation of a person’s liberty, or
• there are statutory restraints on a person’s movement, or
• they have a reasonably held belief induced by police conduct (or other official conduct) that they are not free to leave.

Question 4

Section 24 – Rights of persons charged

Answer 4

(a) Shall be informed promptly and in detail of the nature and cause of the charge; and
(b) Shall be released on reasonable terms and conditions unless there is just cause for continued detention; and
(c) Shall have the right to consult and instruct a lawyer; and
(d) Shall have the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence; and
(e) Shall have the right, except in the case of an offence under military law tried before a military tribunal, to the benefit of a trial by jury when the penalty for the offence is or includes imprisonment for more than 2 years or more; and
(f) Shall have the right to receive legal assistance without cost if the interests of justice so require and the person does not have sufficient means to provide for that assistance; and
(g) Shall have the right to have the free assistance of an interpreter

Question 5

In order to reach the threshold of offensive or disorderly, protestors’ behaviour must either:

Answer 5

• substantially inhibit other people from enjoying their right to use the public amenity, and/or
• cause greater offence than those affected can reasonably be expected to tolerate, to the extent that it is seriously disruptive of public order.

Question 6

What is a ‘search’?

Answer 6

There is no set definition of a ‘search’, either in statute or case law. Recent case law suggests a ‘search’ requires a conscious act of state intrusion into an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy, as opposed to a mere observation.

A search is not:
• kneeling and using a torch to observe an article secreted inside a car headlight
• asking a person to hold up a bicycle so the serial number can be checked
• asking a person to hold out their hands for inspection
• a voluntary request to a power company for aggregated monthly power usage data.

Question 7

Examples of arrest or detention include when a person has been:

Answer 7

• formally arrested
• handcuffed
• locked in a room or building, or put in a place that they cannot leave voluntarily
• placed in a police vehicle against their will.