This is a single section from Chapter 26. Read the full chapter here.

Is there a risk of double jeopardy that should be addressed in the statute?

Legislation should specifically protect against the risk of double jeopardy.

The criminal law has long provided protection against people being punished twice for the same conduct (section 26(2) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990; section 10(4) of the Crimes Act 1961). There are two aspects to the double jeopardy rule—a prohibition on being subjected to more than one penalty for the same conduct, and a prohibition on requiring a person to defend themselves against simultaneous or multiple penalty actions for the same conduct.

Although those rules apply only to criminal proceedings, the underlying rationale of the rules usually applies equally to pecuniary penalties. Therefore, on the basis of fairness, similar prohibitions should be specifically included in legislation so that a person is not subject to both criminal proceedings and civil proceedings that seek a pecuniary penalty for the same conduct. If the legislation is silent on this matter, it will be left to the court to use its existing power to stay or strike out the second proceedings if it considers there is an abuse of process.

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