NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
COURT SECURITY ACT 1998
As in force at 25 May 2024
Table of provisions
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Commencement .............................................................................. 1
3 Application ....................................................................................... 1
4 Definitions ........................................................................................ 2
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 1 Security Officers
5 Security officers ............................................................................... 3
6 Termination of appointment ............................................................. 4
Division 2 Court security
7 Person may be required to state name and address, &c. ................ 4
8 Searches ......................................................................................... 5
9 No firearms, explosives or offensive weapons on court
premises .......................................................................................... 6
10 Seizure and forfeiture of firearms, &c. ............................................. 6
11 Placards, objects, &c., likely to engender violence .......................... 6
12 Security officer may require object capable of concealing
firearms, &c., to be deposited .......................................................... 7
13 Unlawful, disorderly conduct, &c...................................................... 7
14 Refusal of requirement of security officer ........................................ 7
15 Obstruction, &c., of security officer .................................................. 8
16 Arrest ............................................................................................... 8
Part 3 Miscellaneous
17 Judge may close court ..................................................................... 9
18 Regulations.................................................................................... 10
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 25 May 2024
COURT SECURITY ACT 1998
An Act to provide for the security of courts and for related purposes
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Court Security Act 1998.
2 Commencement
This Act comes into operation on the date fixed by the Administrator
by notice in the Gazette.
3 Application
(1) This Act is in addition to and does not derogate from any other
power that a court, judge or person has relating to the conduct of
proceedings in a court or regulating the conduct of persons on court
premises.
(2) This Act does not affect any power of a court relating to contempt of
the court or any other similar power.
(3) Except as provided in this Act, a person has a right to enter and
remain on court premises, where there is room for the person on
the court premises, if the person:
(a) has a proper reason for being on or about the court premises
or has indicated that he or she wishes to see the proceedings
of a court; and
(b) has complied with the requirements, if any, of a judge or
security officer.
Part 1 Preliminary
Court Security Act 1998 2
4 Definitions
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer of the
Agency allotted responsibility by an Administrative Arrangements
Order for the administration of courts.
court means:
(a) the Supreme Court; or
(b) the Local Court; or
(d) the Youth Justice Court continued in existence by section 45
of the Youth Justice Act 2005; or
(e) the Work Health Court under Part 3 of the Work Health
Administration Act 2011; or
(h) a prescribed court; or
(j) a tribunal, body or person that is by law entitled to hear,
receive and examine evidence and is prescribed.
court premises means the premises or place where a court is held
or that are used in connection with the operations of a court and
includes:
(a) a forecourt, courtyard, yard or area used in conjunction with
the premises or place; and
(b) a part of premises that is used to provide entry to or exit from
court premises.
explosive means a substance or article manufactured, designed or
ordinarily used to produce an explosion or a pyrotechnic effect and
includes:
(a) fireworks and gunpowder;
(b) a gaseous substance so compressed that it is capable of
exploding;
(c) material or a substance used to produce an explosion or
pyrotechnic effect; and
(d) an apparatus, machine, implement or material, or a part of an
apparatus, machine, implement or material, used or able to be
used or adapted to cause or aid in causing an explosion or a
pyrotechnic effect.
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 1 Security Officers
Court Security Act 1998 3
firearm has the meaning it has in the Firearms Act 1997.
frisk search means a search conducted by a person running his or
her hands over the outer clothing of the person being searched.
Judge means a Supreme Court Judge, Local Court Judge, justice
of the peace or a prescribed person.
offensive weapon, see section 1 of the Criminal Code.
screening search means:
(a) in relation to a search of a person – a search by equipment
that is designed to carry out the search without touching the
person; and
(b) in relation to the search of an object – a search by equipment
that is designed to carry out the search without touching the
object or requiring it to be opened.
security officer, in relation to a court, means a person appointed
under section 5(2) in relation to the court and person referred to in
section 5(1)(a) or (b).
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 1 Security Officers
5 Security officers
(1) The following persons are security officers for the purpose of this
Act:
(a) a member of the Police Force;
(b) a sheriff, or an officer of the sheriff, within the meaning of the
Sheriff Act 1962;
(c) a person appointed under subsection (2).
(2) The Chief Executive Officer may, in writing, appoint a person to be
a security officer.
(3) A person is not to be appointed a security officer unless:
(a) he or she is an employee within the meaning of the Public
Sector Employment and Management Act 1993; or
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 2 Court security
Court Security Act 1998 4
(b) he or she holds a crowd controller's licence within the
meaning of the Private Security Act 1995 (not being a crowd
controller's transitional licence or a crowd controller's
provisional licence within the meaning of that Act).
(4) The instrument appointing a security officer is to specify his or her
employer, if any.
(5) A person may be appointed a security officer under subsection (2)
in relation to all courts, or a particular court, as is specified in the
instrument appointing the person.
6 Termination of appointment
(1) The Chief Executive Officer may, in writing, terminate the
appointment of a person as a security officer.
(2) A person appointed under section 5(2) ceases to be a security
officer if:
(a) he or she ceases to be an employee of the employer specified
in his or her instrument of appointment;
(b) the employer of the security officer ceases to be engaged to
provide the services of crowd controllers to the court in
relation to which the security officer is appointed; or
(c) he or she ceases to hold a crowd controller's licence within the
meaning of the Private Security Act 1995.
Division 2 Court security
7 Person may be required to state name and address, &c.
(1) A security officer may require a person who is entering or who is on
court premises:
(a) to tell the security officer the person's name and address;
(b) to tell the security officer the person's reason for entering or
being on the premises; and
(c) to provide to the security officer proof of the person's identity.
(2) A person must not fail to provide, when required to do so by a
security officer, his or her name and address, his or her reason for
entering or being on court premises or any proof of identity the
person is carrying.
Maximum penalty: 17 penalty units.
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 2 Court security
Court Security Act 1998 5
(3) A person must not provide to a security officer a false name, a false
address, false information as to why the person is entering or on
court premises or a false proof of identity.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
8 Searches
(1) A security officer may require a person who is entering or who is on
court premises to submit himself or herself and any object in the
possession of the person to a screening search.
(2) Where a security officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that it is
necessary to do so in the interests of security, he or she may
require a person who is entering or who is on court premises:
(a) to submit to a frisk search or to remove a jacket or coat and
submit to a frisk search; and
(b) to open and empty out the person's pockets, to open or empty
a container, briefcase, bag, box, carton or other receptacle in
the possession of the person or otherwise to permit the
security officer to search an object in the possession of the
person.
(3) A frisk search may only be performed by:
(a) a security officer of the same sex as the person being
searched; or
(b) where a security officer of the same sex as the person being
searched is not available to perform the search – by any other
person of the same sex who agrees to a request by a security
officer to perform the frisk search.
(4) A person of whom a requirement is made under subsection (1)
or (2) must, as soon as practicable after the requirement is made:
(a) comply with the requirement; or
(b) leave the court premises.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units.
(5) An action or proceeding, whether civil or criminal, is not to be
commenced or lie against a person authorised for the purposes of
subsection (3)(b) for or in respect of an act or thing done in good
faith by the person performing a frisk search of the person in
accordance with the request of a security officer.
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 2 Court security
Court Security Act 1998 6
9 No firearms, explosives or offensive weapons on court
premises
(1) A person must not be in possession of a firearm, explosives or an
offensive weapon on court premises.
Maximum penalty: 220 penalty units or imprisonment for
5 years.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to:
(a) a member of the Police Force acting in the course of his or her
duties;
(b) a security officer acting in the course of his or her duties; or
(c) a person in possession of a firearm, explosives or an offensive
weapon for the purposes of proceedings in a court.
10 Seizure and forfeiture of firearms, &c.
(1) A security officer may seize a firearm, explosives or an offensive
weapon that is in the possession of a person, other than a person
to whom section 9(2) applies, who is entering or who is on court
premises.
(2) Where a person is found guilty of an offence against section 9(1),
the firearm, explosive or offensive weapon to which the offence
relates is forfeited to the Territory.
(3) Where a person is found guilty of an offence against section 11(2),
the placard, poster or object to which the offence relates is forfeited
to the Territory.
11 Placards, objects, &c., likely to engender violence
(1) A security officer may require a person who is entering or who is on
court premises with a placard, poster or other object to deposit the
placard, poster or object with the officer if it is:
(a) offensive, insulting, threatening or indecent; or
(b) likely to engender violence, create a breach of the peace or
unreasonably cause substantial annoyance to another person.
(2) A person required under subsection (1) to deposit a placard, poster
or object must, as soon as practicable after the requirement is
made:
(a) deposit it with a security officer; or
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 2 Court security
Court Security Act 1998 7
(b) leave the court premises with it.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units or imprisonment for
12 months.
(3) Where a person fails to comply with a requirement under
subsection (1) a security officer may seize the placard, poster or
object to which the failure to comply relates.
12 Security officer may require object capable of concealing
firearms, &c., to be deposited
(1) A security officer may require a person who is entering or who is on
court premises with an object that is reasonably capable of
concealing a firearm, explosives or an offensive weapon to deposit
the object with the officer.
(2) A person required to deposit an object under subsection (1) must,
as soon as practicable after the requirement is made:
(a) deposit the object with a security officer; or
(b) leave the court premises with the object.
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units or imprisonment for
12 months.
(3) Where a person fails to comply with a requirement under
subsection (1) a security officer may seize the object to which the
failure to comply relates.
13 Unlawful, disorderly conduct, &c.
(1) Where a security officer believes that a person on court premises is
behaving unlawfully or in a disorderly or menacing manner, the
security officer may require the person to leave the premises.
(2) A person must not contravene or fail to comply with a requirement
under subsection (1).
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units or imprisonment for
12 months.
14 Refusal of requirement of security officer
(1) Where a person refuses to comply with a requirement of a security
officer under section 7, 8, 11 or 12, a security officer may:
(a) refuse the person entry to the court premises or a part of the
court premises; or
Part 2 Entry to and exclusion from court
Division 2 Court security
Court Security Act 1998 8
(b) order the person to leave the court premises or a part of the
court premises.
(2) A person must not fail to comply with an order of a security officer
under subsection (1)(b).
Maximum penalty: 40 penalty units or imprisonment for
12 months.
(3) Where a person fails to comply with:
(a) an order of a security officer under subsection (1)(b); or
(b) a requirement of a security officer under section 13(1),
a security officer may remove the person from the court premises or
a part of the court premises using such force as is reasonably
necessary for that purpose.
15 Obstruction, &c., of security officer
A person must not resist, hinder or obstruct a security officer in the
execution of his or her duty.
Maximum penalty: 85 penalty units or imprisonment for
2 years.
16 Arrest
(1) Where a security officer is of the opinion that a person:
(a) has committed;
(b) is committing; or
(c) is likely to commit,
an offence against this Act, the security officer may, without
warrant, arrest the person and take him or her into custody.
(2) Where a security officer who arrests a person under subsection (1)
is not a member of the Police Force, the security officer must
deliver the person to a member of the Police Force as soon as
practicable after the person is arrested.
(3) A person who is arrested under subsection (1) and is in custody
must not be questioned in relation to an offence other than by a
member of the Police Force and in accordance with the Police
Administration Act 1978.
Part 3 Miscellaneous
Court Security Act 1998 9
(4) Where a person is delivered to a member of the Police Force under
subsection (2) the Police Administration Act 1978 applies to and in
relation to the person and to the member as if the arrest had been
made under that Act.
(5) A person who is arrested under subsection (1)(a) must be released
immediately from custody where it becomes apparent that the
person did not commit the offence for which the person was
arrested.
(6) Nothing in this section derogates from the power of a person to
arrest a person without warrant under section 441 of the Criminal
Code.
Part 3 Miscellaneous
17 Judge may close court
(1) Where a judge is of the opinion that it is necessary for the purposes
of securing order and safety in court premises or a part of court
premises, the judge may:
(a) make an order requiring members of the public generally, or
specified members of the public, to leave the court premises
or a part of the court premises; or
(b) make an order refusing members of the public generally, or
specified members of the public, admission to the court
premises or a part of the court premises.
(2) A person must not contravene or fail to comply with an order of a
judge under subsection (1).
Maximum penalty: 85 penalty units or imprisonment for
2 years.
(3) Where a person contravenes or fails to comply with an order of a
judge under this section, a security officer may, using such force as
is reasonably necessary for the purpose:
(a) remove the person from the court premises or the part of the
court premises; or
(b) prevent the person from entering the court premises or the
part of the court premises.
Part 3 Miscellaneous
Court Security Act 1998 10
18 Regulations
The Administrator may make regulations, not inconsistent with this
Act, prescribing all matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or
giving effect to this Act.
ENDNOTES
Court Security Act 1998 11
ENDNOTES
1 KEY Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Court Security Act 1998 (Act No. 42, 1998)
Assent date 27 May 1998
Commenced 1 July 1998 (Gaz S28, 1 July 1998, p 1)
Youth Justice (Consequential Amendments) Act 2005 (Act No. 33, 2005)
Assent date 22 September 2005
Commenced 1 August 2006 (s 2, s 2 Youth Justice Act 2005 (Act No. 32,
2005) and Gaz G30, 26 July 2006, p 3)
Law Reform (Work Health) Amendment Act 2007 (Act No. 30, 2007)
Assent date 12 December 2007
Commenced 1 July 2008 (Gaz S29, 25 June 2008)
Justice Legislation Amendment (Penalties) Act 2010 (Act No. 12, 2010)
Assent date 20 May 2010
Commenced 1 July 2010 (Gaz G24, 16 June 2010, p 2)
Mineral Titles (Consequential Amendments) Act 2010 (Act No. 37, 2010)
Assent date 18 November 2010
Commenced 7 November 2011 (Gaz G41, 12 October 2011, p 5)
Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Act 2011 (Act
No. 38, 2011)
Assent date 14 December 2011
Commenced 1 January 2012 (Gaz S78, 30 December 2011)
Local Court (Related Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 8, 2016)
Assent date 6 April 2016
Commenced 1 May 2016 (s 2, s 2 Local Court (Repeals and Related
Amendments) Act 2016 (Act No. 9, 2016) and Gaz S34,
29 April 2016)
ENDNOTES
Court Security Act 1998 12
Justice and Other Legislation Further Amendment Act 2024 (Act No. 9, 2024)
Assent date 24 May 2024
Commenced pts 4 and 8: nc; pts 9 and 10: 1 July 2024 (s 2(3));
rem: 25 May 2024 (s 2(1))
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22 of 2018) to: ss 1, 4, 5, 6 and 16.
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
s 4 amd No. 33, 2005, s 5; No. 30, 2007, s 59; No. 37, 2010, s 13; No. 38, 2011,
s 31; No. 8, 2016, s 45; No. 9, 2024, s 14
ss 7 – 9 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3
ss 11 – 15 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3
s 17 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3