Section 86 — Crimes Act 1961: Unlawful assembly

86 Unlawful assembly (1) An unlawful assembly is an assembly of 3 or more persons who, with intent to carry out any common purpose, assemble in such a manner, or so conduct themselves when assembled, as to cause persons in the neighbourhood of the assembly to fear, on reasonable grounds, that the persons so assembled— (a) Will use violence against persons or property in that neighbourhood or elsewhere; or (b) Will, by that assembly, needlessly and without reasonable cause provoke other persons to use violence against persons or property in that neighbourhood: Provided that no one shall be deemed to provoke other persons needlessly and without reasonable cause by doing or saying anything that he is lawfully entitled to do or say. (2) Persons lawfully assembled may become an unlawful assembly if, with a common purpose, they conduct themselves in such a manner that their assembling would have been unlawful if they had assembled in that manner for that purpose. (3) An assembly of 3 or more persons for the purpose of protecting the house of any one of their number against persons threatening to break and enter that house in order to commit a crime therein is not unlawful. (4) Every member of an unlawful assembly is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. Compare: 1908 No 32 s 101 Subsection (1) was substituted, as from 1 January 1974, by section 3 Crimes Amendment Act 1973 (1973 No 118).