Supreme Court case information

Listed below are the substantive Supreme Court cases for the year along with appeals still to be determined or cases awaiting hearing. 

Information giving an overview of the case is included along with media releases and links to judgments being appealed when available.

All 2024 - 2014 Supreme Court cases dismissed or deemed to be dismissed where a notice of abandonment was received can be found here.

Transcripts for cases heard before the Supreme Court are included provided they are not suppressed. Transcripts from pre-trial hearings are not published until the final disposition of trial. These are unedited transcripts and they are not a formal record of the Court’s proceedings. The Ministry of Justice does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any material and recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use.

23 December 2024

Case information summary 2024 (as at 23 December 2024) –  Cases where leave granted (126 KB)
Case information summary 2024 (as at 23 December 2024)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 116 KB)

All years

Case name
B (SC 26/2023) v C (SC 26/2023)
Case number
SC 26/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application to adduce new evidence in this Court is dismissed.
B The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
15 May 2023
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Raymond John Belsey v The King
Case number
SC 27/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal is dismissed. 26 June 2023
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Cresswell v Roberts
Case number
SC 28/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The applications for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal Roberts v Cresswell [2022] NZCA 625 and the Court of Appeal’s decision declining the application to adjourn the substantive hearing are dismissed.
B The application for leave to appeal (Roberts v Cresswell [2023] NZCA 36) is dismissed.
C There is no order as to costs.
25 May 2023
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Tanya Felicity Dunstan v New Zealand Police
Case number
SC 29/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The application for recusal is dismissed.
C The applicant must pay the respondent costs of $2,500.
17 May 2023

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 17 May 2023 (Dunstan v New Zealand Police [2023] NZSC 58) is dismissed.
21 June 2023
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Zhong Xing v Jicai Li and Fang Yu and Ors
Case number
SC 30/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
19 June 2023
______________________________________________________________

The applicant must pay the first to seventeenth and nineteenth respondents one set of costs of $1,000. 19 July 2023
Case name
James Hay Wallace and McLean's Mansion Charitable Trust v The King
Case number
SC 31/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A) The applications for leave to appeal are dismissed.
B) Order continuing suppression of the applicants’ names, addresses, occupations and any identifying particulars on the terms set out at [15] until 2 pm on 28 June 2023.
Suppression will lapse at that time.
26 June 2023
High Court decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Raewyn Phyllis Cooper v Marcus Robert William Pinney
Case number
SC 32/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted (Cooper v Pinney [2023] NZCA 62).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the applicant’s appeal to that Court.
3 July 2023
_______________________________
A The appeal is dismissed.
B Costs are reserved.
20 December 2024
Date of hearing
01 November 2023 - 02 November 2023
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, Ellen France, Williams and Kós JJ
Case name
David Charles Rae v Commissioner of Police
Case number
SC 33/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s recall judgment (Rae v Commissioner of Police [2023] NZCA 38) is dismissed.
B The application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s substantive judgment (Rae v Commissioner of Police [2023] NZCA 4) is granted.
C Leave to appeal is granted.
D The appeal is dismissed.
E There is no order as to costs.
30 November 2023
Date of hearing
12 October 2023
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, O'Regan, Williams and Kós JJ
Case name
Stephen Gilbert Anderson v NZI International Acceptances Limited, NZI Securities Limited and NZI Finances Limited
Case number
SC 34/2023
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
31 May 2023
Case name
Jiaxin Tu v The King
Case number
SC 35/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
23 February 2024
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed