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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
127 Hobson Street Limited and Sunil Govind Parbhu v Honey Bees Preschool Limited and Jason James 
Case number
SC 40/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Penalty clause – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the indemnity clause did not offend the prohibition against penalties.
Result
A  Leave to appeal is granted (127 Hobson Street Ltd v Honey Bees Preschool Ltd [2019] NZCA 122).
B  The approved ground is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the applicants’ appeal to that Court and, in particular, whether the Court was correct to conclude that the indemnity clause did not offend the prohibition against penalties.
27 June 2019
____________________
A The appeal is dismissed.
B The appellants must pay costs of $25,000 plus usual disbursements to the respondents.
5 June 2020
Media Releases
Substantive judgment
[2020] NZSC 53 (PDF, 209 KB)
High Court decision
HONEY BEES PRESCHOOL LTD v 127 HOBSON STREET LTD [2018] NZHC 32 [31 January 2018]
Court of Appeal decision
127 HOBSON STREET LTD v HONEY BEES PRESCHOOL LTD [2019] NZCA 122 [18 April 2019]
Leave judgment - leave granted
127 HOBSON STREET LIMITED v HONEY BEES PRESCHOOL LIMITED [2019] NZSC 62 [27 June 2019] (PDF, 29 KB)
Substantive judgment
127 HOBSON STREET LIMITED v HONEY BEES PRESCHOOL LIMITED [2020] NZSC 53 [5 June 2020] (PDF, 209 KB)
Hearing - Judges

Winkelmann CJ,  O'Regan, Ellen France,Williams and Arnold JJ
Transcript:
Hearing date 10 October 2019
Case name
New Zealand Law Society v John Llewellyn Stanley
Case number
SC 41/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in determining whether the Applicant was a fit and proper person to be admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, particularly in relation to the Applicant’s prior convictions.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is granted (Stanley v The New Zealand Law Society [2019] NZCA 119).
B The approved ground of appeal is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to allow the appeal against the High Court judgment (Stanley v New Zealand Law Society [2018] NZHC 1154) and to make an order for Mr Stanley’s admission. 
13 November 2019
___________________________________
A The appeal is dismissed.
B Costs are reserved.
17 August 2020
Transcripts
Media Releases
High Court decision
STANLEY v NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY [2018] NZHC 1154 [22 May 2018]
Court of Appeal decision
STANLEY v THE NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY [2019] NZCA 119 [17 April 2019]
Leave judgment - leave granted
NEW ZEALAND LAW SOCIETY v JOHN LLEWELLYN STANLEY [2019] NZSC 125 [13 November 2019] (PDF, 36 KB)
Substantive judgment
[2020] NZSC 83 (PDF, 550 KB)
Case name
Maree Howard v Accident Compensation Corporation
Case number
SC 42/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the Deputy Registrar’s decision to refuse to accept an application for leave to appeal for filing.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay costs of $2,500 to the respondent.
24 July 2019
______________________________
The application for recall of this Court’s judgment in Howard v Accident Compensation Corporation [2019] NZSC 78 is dismissed.
26 August 2019
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MAREE HOWARD v ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CORPORATION [2019] NZSC 78 [24 July 2019] (PDF, 44 KB)
Recall judgment
MAREE HOWARD v ACCIDENT COMPENSATION CORPORATION [2019] NZSC 92 [26 August 2019] (PDF, 34 KB)
Case name
Ridgway Empire Limited v Jill Grant
Case number
SC 43/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Precontractual misrepresentation – Whether a representation by a non‑expert that a building is not leaky is a representation of fact or opinion – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the appeal.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant is to pay the respondent costs of $2,500.
8 August 2019
High Court decision
GRANT v RIDGWAY EMPIRE LTD [2018] NZHC 2642 [11 October 2018]
Court of Appeal decision
RIDGWAY EMPIRE LTD v JILL GRANT [2019] NZCA 134 [2 May 2019]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
RIDGWAY EMPIRE LTD v GRANT [2019] NZSC 85 [8 August 2019] (PDF, 52 KB)
Case name
Jeffrey Robert Bunting v The Queen
Case number
SC 44/2019
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that there was no material trial counsel error – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that propensity evidence was admissible.
Result
A The application for an extension of time is granted.
B The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with leave reserved as set out in [11] below.
9 September 2019
Transcripts
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
BUNTING v R [2018] NZCA 602 [20 December 2018]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
JEFFREY ROBERT BUNTING v R [2019] NZSC 95 [9 September 2019] (PDF, 46 KB)
Oral leave hearing date
Thursday 29 August 2019
Case name
Scott v Williams
Case number
SC 45/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether there are exceptional circumstances in this case to justify an appeal from two High Court decisions under section 75 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 – Whether an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal should be granted.
Result
A The applications for extensions of time for applying for leave to appeal ([2018] NZHC 1979 and [2019] NZHC 935) are dismissed.
B Costs of $2,500 are awarded to the respondent.
25 July 2019
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SCOTT v WILLIAMS [2019] NZSC 80 [25 July 2019] (PDF, 44 KB)
Case name
Dwayne Russell Warakihi Maaka Smyth-Davoren v Bridget Sutherland
Case number
SC 46/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the Deputy Registrar’s decision declining to dispense with security for costs.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B No award of costs is made.
19 July 2019
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
DWAYNE RUSSELL WARAKIHI MAAKA SMYTH-DAVOREN v BRIDGET SUTHERLAND[2019] NZSC 76 [19 July 2019] (PDF, 36 KB)
Case name
Dwayne Russell Warakihi Maaka Smyth-Davoren v David Parker, Jacinda Ardern and Andrew Little
Case number
SC 47/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in refusing to grant an extension of time to file the case on appeal and apply for the allocation of a hearing date.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B No order as to costs.
1 July 2019
_______________________________
The applications for recall of this Court’s judgments in Smyth Davoren v Parker [2019] NZSC 66 and in Smyth Davoren v Mountbatten [2019] NZSC 67 are dismissed.
8 July 2019
Court of Appeal decision
SMYTH-DAVOREN v DAVID PARKER [2019] NZCA 139 [6 May 2019]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
DWAYNE RUSSELL WARAKIHI MAAKA SMYTH-DAVOREN v DAVID PARKER [2019] NZSC 66[1 July 2019] (PDF, 197 KB)
Recall judgment
DWAYNE RUSSELL WARAKIHI MAAKA SMYTH-DAVOREN v DAVID PARKER [2019] NZSC 70[8 July 2019] (PDF, 33 KB)
Case name
Dwayne Russell Warakihi Maaka Smyth-Davoren v Elizabeth II Alexandra Mary Mountbatton (born Windsor)
Case number
SC 48/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in refusing to grant the extension of time.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B No order for costs.
1 July 2019
___________________________
The applications for recall of this Court’s judgments in Smyth Davoren v Parker [2019] NZSC 66 and in Smyth Davoren v Mountbatten [2019] NZSC 67 are dismissed.
8 July 2019
Court of Appeal decision
SMYTH - DAVOREN v MOUNTBATTEN (BORN WINDSOR) [2019] NZCA 186 [27 May 2019]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
DWAYNE RUSSELL WARAKIHI MAAKA SMYTH-DAVOREN v ELIZABETH II ALEXANDRA MARYMOUNTBATTEN (BORN WINDSOR) [2019] NZSC 67 [1 July 2019] (PDF, 39 KB)
Recall judgment
DWAYNE RUSSELL WARAKIHI MAAKA SMYTH-DAVOREN v DAVID PARKER [2019] NZSC 70[8 July 2019] (PDF, 33 KB)
Case name
Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis v The King
Case number
SC 49/2019
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether there was a miscarriage of justice arising from risks of contamination of or improperly obtained complainant evidence - Whether there was a miscarriage of justice arising from lack of expert evidence on the reliability of children complainants’ evidence – Whether there was a miscarriage of justice due to unreliable expert evidence being led at trial.
Result
A The application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal is granted.
B The application for leave to appeal is granted.  
C The approved ground of appeal is whether a miscarriage of justice occurred in this case.  
31 July 2019
_____________________________________________________
The appeal is to continue despite the death of the appellant.
1 September 2020
_____________________________________________________
A The applications to adduce further evidence are granted.
B The appeal is allowed.
C The convictions of the appellant are quashed.
7 October 2022
Date of hearing
04 October 2021 - 15 October 2021
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, O'Regan, Williams and Arnold JJ
Transcripts
Case Synopses
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2019] NZSC 83 [31 July 2019] (PDF, 220 KB)
Substantive judgment
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2020] NZSC 89 [1 September 2020] (PDF, 70 KB)
Additional document
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2020] NZSC 137 [13 November 2020] Reasons 7 December 2020 (PDF, 202 KB)
Supreme court decision
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2021] NZSC 63 [15 June 2021] (PDF, 113 KB)
Supreme court decision
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2021] NZSC 77 [1 July 2021] (PDF, 260 KB)
Substantive judgment
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2022] NZSC 114 [7 October 2022] (PDF, 1.1 MB)
Substantive judgment
PETER HUGH MCGREGOR ELLIS v R [2022] NZSC 115 [7 October 2022] (PDF, 1 MB)
Videos
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