Kidnapping

Question 1

Kidnapping

Section and Penalty

Answer 1

Section 209 (a) or (b) or (c) Crimes Act 1961

14 years imprisonment

Question 2

Kidnapping Ingredients

Answer 2

1) Unlawfully
2) Takes away or Detains
3) A Person

4) Without his or her consent
OR
With his or her consent obtained by fraud or duress

5) With Intent to:
a) To hold him or her for ransom or to service
OR
b) To cause him or her to be imprisoned or confined
OR
c) To cause him or her to be sent or taken out of NZ.

Question 3

Unlawfully

Answer 3

Without lawful justification, authority or excuse

Question 4

R v Crossan

Answer 4

Taking away and detaining are “separate and distinct offences. The first consists of taking the victim away. The second of detaining them.

Question 5

Takes Away

R v Wellard

Answer 5

The essence of the offence of kidnapping is the deprivation of liberty coupled with carrying away from the place where the victim wants to be.

Question 6

Detaining

R v Pryce

Answer 6

Detaining is an active concept meaning to keep in confinement or custody. This is to be contrasted to the passive concept of harbouring or mere failure to hand over.

Question 7

Person

Answer 7

Gender neutral proven by judicial notice or circumstantial evidence.

Question 8

Consent

And

R v Cox

Answer 8

Consent is a persons conscious and voluntary agreement to something desired or proposed by another.

R v Cox

Consent must be full, voluntary, free and informed. Freely and voluntarily given by a person to form a rational judgement.

Question 9

To Obtain Consent by FRAUD

Answer 9

Consent obtained by the misrepresentation of the facts or the offenders intentions.

Question 10

To obtain consent by DURESS

Answer 10

Actual or implied threat of force to the victim or another person. Can include other forms of pressure or coercion.

Question 11

Child under 16

Answer 11

Section 209A Crimes Act 1961

For the purposes of S208 and S209, a person under the age of 16 years cannot consent to being taken away or detained.

Question 12

Intent

Answer 12

In a criminal law context there are two specific types of an intention in an offence. Firstly there must be an intention to commit the act and secondly an intention to get a specific result.

Question 13

R v Mohi

Answer 13

The offence is complete once there has been a period of detention or a taking accompanied by the necessary intent, regardless of whether that intent was carried out.

Question 14

R v Waaka

Answer 14

Intent may be formed at any time during the taking away. If a taking away commences without the intent to have intercourse, but that intent is formed during the taking away, then that is sufficient for the purposes of the section.

Question 15

With Intent to:

a) Hold him or her for RANSOM or to SERVICE

Answer 15

Ransom:
A sum of money demanded or paid, for the release of a person being held capture.

Service:
This provision relates to situations where the offender’s intent is to keep the victim as a servant or slave.

Question 16

b) To cause him or her to be IMPRISONED or CONFINED

Answer 16

Confined:
Restricting their movements to within a geographical area.

Imprisoned:
To be held as if in prison.

Question 17

c) To cause him or her to be SENT or TAKEN OUT of NZ

Answer 17

Sent out of New Zealand:
Sent - normal meaning, to be sent out of NZ shores.

Taken out of New Zealand:
Taken suggests victim in company or custody of a person accompanying them out of New Zealand.