New Zealanders can now make a citizen’s arrest at any time of day when they find someone committing an offence under the Crimes Act.

The new powers became law on 7 August, one day after the Governor General formally approved the Crimes Amendment Act.

Under the previous law, a person was generally protected when making an arrest only if the offence carried at least three years in prison or was committed at night.

Those restrictions have been removed. A person can now make an arrest when they find someone committing any offence covered by the Crimes Act.

Anyone making a citizen’s arrest must contact police as soon as practicable and follow police directions.

The law allows reasonable physical or mechanical restraint to be used during an arrest, but any force must be reasonable in the circumstances.

Ministerial Advisory Group on Retail Crime chairman Sunny Kaushal welcomed the changes after years of calls from retailers and crime victims for stronger protection.

“I make no apology for championing stronger protections for hardworking New Zealanders, business owners and victims of crime,” Kaushal said.

The advisory group conducted more than 40 consultations from Kaitaia to Invercargill over 18 months.

“The law should protect law abiding New Zealanders every hour of every day, not only at certain hours of the day,” Kaushal said.

“Offenders don’t check the clock before committing crime. The law shouldn’t check the clock before protecting New Zealanders.”

The legislation also changes the protections available to people defending property and creates a specific offence for theft carried out in an offensive, insulting or disorderly manner.

The maximum penalty for theft worth more than $2,000 has increased to seven years in prison. Theft worth $2,000 or less carries a maximum penalty of one year.

A separate infringement scheme for removing property from retail premises without payment will take effect later, allowing police time to prepare the required systems.

The expanded citizen arrest powers attracted criticism during the lawmaking process.

Green MP Lawrence Xu Nan told Parliament that Retail New Zealand, the Police Association and BusinessNZ had raised concerns about how the powers would work in practice.

An Opposition proposal to delay their introduction until July 2027 was defeated.

Kaushal said attention now needed to turn to how the changes worked in practice.

“Businesses and their staff need to feel safer. Victims need to have confidence that the system is working for them, and offenders need to understand that there are consequences for their actions,” he said.