Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts1. Definitions
In this Code, unless the contrary intention appears:
abnormality of mind means abnormality of mind arising from a condition of arrested or retarded development of mind or inherent causes or induced by disease, illness or injury.
act , in relation to an accused person, means the deed alleged to have been done by him. it is not limited to bodily movement and it includes the deed of another caused, induced or adopted by him or done pursuant to a common intention.
adult means a person of or over the age of 18 years.
aggravated offence , for Part VI, see section 149B.
aircraft includes hovercraft.
alters includes adds to.
application of force and like terms include striking, touching, moving and the application of heat, light, noise, electrical or other energy, gas, odour or any other substance or thing if applied to such a degree as to cause injury or personal discomfort.
birth , see section 1C.
building means any structure complete or otherwise, not being a flimsy or insubstantial structure by the standards of the community to which the owner or occupier of it belongs, that, except in the 3 cases hereinafter mentioned, is not readily moveable and that is used or intended for the occupation of man or his animals or the storage or shelter of his goods. it includes a caravan, ship and an erected tent used or intended for any such purpose.
child means a person who is not an adult.
circumstance of aggravation means any circumstance by reason of which an offender is liable to a greater punishment than that to which he would be liable if the offence were committed without the existence of that circumstance.
coercion means physical or mental pressure forcing the person said to be coerced to do what he would not otherwise do.
collection does not include a collection made or exhibited for the purpose of effecting sales or other commercial dealings.
committal for trial includes committal for sentence.
conduct , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AD(1).
counterfeit token means a token that is not genuine and that is intended to resemble or pass for a genuine token.
credit means credit in respect of the payment or repayment of money and also credit in respect of the delivery of goods, the obtaining of service, the doing of work or the performance of any other obligation whether legally enforceable or not.
Crown Law Officer means the Attorney-General or the Director of Public Prosecutions and includes a person authorized under a law of the Territory to exercise a power or perform a function in the name of or on behalf of a Crown Law Officer.
damages includes destroys and, when used in relation to a document or writing, includes obliterating and rendering it illegible either in whole or in part.
death means:
(a) the irreversible cessation of all function of a person's brain, including the brain stem; or
(b) the irreversible cessation of circulation of blood in a person's body.
deception :
(a) means intentional deception by word or conduct as to fact or law and includes a deception as to the present intention of the person using the deception or another person; and
(b) includes an act or thing done or omitted to be done with the intention of causing:
(i) a computer system; or
(ii) a machine that is designed to operate by means of payment or identification,
to make a response that the person doing or omitting to do the act or thing is not authorised to cause the computer system or machine to make.
declared offence means an offence against a law of the Territory that, under an Act, is declared to be an offence to which Part IIAA applies.
duress means a threat to commit upon any person an offence against the person for which an offender may be sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years or longer.
dwelling-house means any building or part of a building kept by the owner or occupier for his residence or the residence of his family, guests or servants. it is immaterial that from time to time it is uninhabited.
election means any election held under the authority of any statute providing for the choice of persons to fill any office or place of a public character.
employed in the public service includes employed in an Agency under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act , as a police officer or to execute any process of a court of justice.
engage in conduct , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AD(2).
enters , in relation to a building, includes the entry into the building of any part of the body of the person said to have entered that building or any part of an instrument used by him.
event means the result of an act or omission.
evidential burden , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43BT.
explosive substance includes a gaseous substance in such a state of compression as to be capable of explosion.
fault element , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AH.
fault element of basic intent , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, means a fault element of intention for a physical element that consists only of conduct.
gain means gain of property and includes temporary gain and a gain by keeping what one has.
harm has the meaning in section 1A.
have or has in possession includes having under control in any place, whether for the use or benefit of the person of whom the term is used or of another person, and although another person has the actual possession or custody of the thing in question.
husband and wife and like terms include, in the case of Aborigines, persons living in a husband and wife relationship according to tribal custom.
intention , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AI.
intoxication , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, means intoxication because of the influence of alcohol, a drug or any other substance.
involuntary intoxication means the person concerned is under the influence of an intoxicating substance caused by the involuntary ingestion of it, his honest and reasonable mistake as to the nature of it, some physical idiosyncrasy of which he was unaware or the coercion, mistake or deception of another.
judicial proceeding means any proceeding had or taken in or before a court, tribunal or person in which evidence may be taken on oath.
justice of the peace includes a magistrate.
knowingly , used in connection with any term denoting doing, uttering or using, implies knowledge of the character of the thing done, uttered or used.
knowledge , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AJ.
legal burden , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43BQ.
local government election means any election held under any law relating to local government.
loss means loss of property and includes a loss by not getting what one might get as well as a loss by parting with what one has.
medical treatment includes dental treatment and all forms of surgery.
menace includes a threat of an injury, accusation or detriment of any kind to be caused or to be made against any person either by the offender or by any other person if the demand is not complied with.
money includes an instrument for the payment of money that may be negotiated by an ADI, coins, cheques and any other orders, warrants or authorities for the payment of money.
mortgaged goods includes any goods and chattels and any live animals and their progeny and any crops or produce of the earth, whether growing or severed, that are subject for the time being to the provisions of any written instrument by which a valid charge or lien is created upon them by way of security for any debt or obligation.
negligent , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AL.
night or night-time means the interval between 9 o'clock in the evening and 6 o'clock in the morning.
offensive weapon means any article made or adapted to cause injury or fear of injury to the person or by which the person having it intends to cause injury or fear of injury to the person.
owner includes any part owner and any person having possession or control of, or any special property in, the property in question. it also, as does the term person and other like terms when used with reference to property, includes Her Majesty and any corporation, local authority and public body constituted by or under any statute and any other association of persons capable of owning property.
person similarly circumstanced does not include a person who is voluntarily intoxicated.
physical element , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AE.
property means every thing, animate or inanimate, capable of being the subject of ownership including:
(a) things in action and other intangible property; and
(b) wild creatures that have been tamed or are ordinarily kept in captivity and other wild creatures or their carcasses if they have been reduced into possession that has not been lost or abandoned or are in the course of being reduced into possession.
Public Sector has the same meaning as in the Public Sector Employment and Management Act .
reckless , for Part IIAA and Schedule 1 provisions, has the meaning in section 43AK.
riot , see section 63(4).
riotously assembled , see section 63(4).
Schedule 1 offence means an offence against a Schedule 1 provision.
Schedule 1 provision means a provision of this Code specified in Schedule 1.
self-induced intoxication , for Part IIAA, has the meaning in section 43AR.
serious harm means any harm (including the cumulative effect of more than one harm):
(a) that endangers, or is likely to endanger, a person's life; or
(b) that is or is likely to be significant and longstanding.
sexual intercourse means:
(a) the insertion to any extent by a person of his penis into the vagina, anus or mouth of another person;
(b) the insertion to any extent by a person of any part of the person's body or an object into the vagina or anus of another person, except for the purpose of performing a medical examination or administering medical treatment; or
(c) cunnilingus or fellatio,
and continues until the withdrawal of the part of the body or object from the mouth, vagina or anus into which it was inserted or the cessation of cunnilingus or fellatio, as the case may be.
ship means every kind of vessel used in navigation not propelled by oars.
special liability provision means a provision providing that:
(a) absolute liability applies to one or more (but not all) of the physical elements of an offence; or
(b) in a prosecution for an offence, it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew something; or
(c) in a prosecution for an offence, it is not necessary to prove that the defendant knew or believed something.
statutory instrument means subordinate legislation made pursuant to an Act.
token means a counter, chip or other article that may be used, in appropriate circumstances, in lieu of money.
trade secret means a secret and unique or distinctly different formula, process or method, whether it has been perfected or not, provided it has been recorded by some means and has commercial value.
trial includes a proceeding upon a plea of guilty.
uncorroborated testimony means testimony that is not corroborated in some material particular by other evidence implicating the accused person.
unlawful or unlawfully means without authorization, justification or excuse.
unnecessary force means force that the user of such force knows is unnecessary for and disproportionate to the occasion or that an ordinary person, similarly circumstanced to the person using such force, would regard as unnecessary for and disproportionate to the occasion.
utter means using or dealing with, attempting to use or deal with or attempting to induce any person to use, deal with or act upon, the thing in question.
vagina means the internal and external female genitalia and includes a surgically constructed vagina.
valuable security means a document that is the property of any person and that is evidence of the ownership of property or of the right to recover or receive property.
vessel means every kind of vessel used in navigation.
writing includes:
(a) a seal, mark and sign that is capable of conveying meaning; and
(b) data held in electronic form that is capable of being transformed into a document.
wrongful act and like terms mean an act that is wrong by the ordinary standards of the community. a lawful act may be a wrongful act, but any act expressly declared to be lawful cannot be a wrongful act.