Supreme Court

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is New Zealand’s final court of appeal. It deals with criminal and civil appeals from the lower courts. The Supreme Court must grant leave before an appeal can begin.

In the 2015/16 financial year the number of applications for leave to appeal [1] increased slightly from 172 in 2014/15 to 176 in 2015/16.

In the 2015/2016 calendar year:

• 23 new appeals were filed (down from 26 in the previous 12 months).
• 18 separate judgments disposed 21 appeals, with three appeal abandoned (compared to 40 separate judgments which disposed 41 appeals, with one appeal abandoned in the previous 12 months).

As at 30 June 2016 there were 22 active appeals (awaiting hearing or judgment) compared with 17 as at 30 June 2015.

Statistics