Requesting a Warrant to Arrest

Making a request for a WTA

A request for a WTA can only be made if there are reasons why a summons to appear in court cannot be served on an offender.

The two reasons for requesting a warrant in lieu of summons are when:

• a summons cannot be served due to safety concerns, or
• the whereabouts of the offender is unknown.

Reference: Volume 2, Part VII, Chapter 5 Taking Breach Action (please refer to the related links section on this page).

Note: Reasons for seeking the WTA must be recorded. This applies even if a judge has issued one on a verbal request.

Issuing a warrant to arrest

A WTA can only be issued by the court or the New Zealand Parole Board (NZPB). In these cases WTAs are issued to have the offender taken into custody until they can attend a hearing before the court or NZPB.

The court may issue a WTA either:

• following a request from CPPS, or
• if an offender fails to appear at a hearing.

Note: NZPB may issue a WTA following an interim recall order.

Warrants executable by police only

Once issued, only the police can execute the WTA. A probation officer cannot arrest the offender under such a warrant.

The police must be alerted to the offender's location if this is known. When the offender comes to their notice, police should bring the offender into custody under a WTA.

If the offender makes a voluntary appearance, or appears on other matters, it is important to ensure that either:

• the WTA for the breach is executed by police, or
• an application is made to withdraw the warrant in court.

File maintenance

All files with outstanding WTAs should be kept in an appropriately identified cabinet. For CPPS service centres with court servicing responsibilities, the cabinet should be adjacent to other court files.

This system should also be supported by a list, manual or electronic, of all WTA files.

Quarterly check on outstanding warrants

A court servicing administrative officer should make a quarterly check of the list of WTA against IOMS. They should identify any discrepancies, such as an offender having come to notice elsewhere without the WTA being actioned.

The probation officer should establish the status of the offender and determine how the prosecution should be actioned.

If there has been a discrepancy, the probation officer must seek the leave of the court to have the warrant withdrawn by the court, to ensure the warrant is not wrongly actioned.

Request for withdrawal of warrant

The reasons for requesting that a warrant be withdrawn must be made clear to the court. The judge must formally direct the withdrawal. Without such a direction, the police have no authority to remove it from their persons of interest system.

Process

The following diagram shows the stages involved in requesting a WTA.

Note: If the offender has active charges pending, the probation officer may consider advising the police of the offender's whereabouts.