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.
24 June 2024
Case information summary 2024 (as at 21 June 2024) – Cases where leave granted (121 KB)
Case information summary 2024 (as at 21 June 2024) – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 125 KB)
All years
Case name
A (SC 70/2022) v The Minister of Internal Affairs
Case number
SC 70/2022
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted (A (CA677/2020) v The Minister of Internal Affairs [2022] NZCA 257).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the appeal.
16 March 203
___________________________________________________________
A The appeal is allowed.
B A declaration is made that the Minister’s decision to cancel the appellant’s passport was unlawful and invalid.
C The respondent must pay the appellant costs of $30,000 plus usual disbursements.
5 June 2024
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the appeal.
16 March 203
___________________________________________________________
A The appeal is allowed.
B A declaration is made that the Minister’s decision to cancel the appellant’s passport was unlawful and invalid.
C The respondent must pay the appellant costs of $30,000 plus usual disbursements.
5 June 2024
Date of hearing
24 July 2023
- 25 July 2023
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, O’Regan, Ellen France, and Kós JJ
Transcripts
- Hearing date 16 March 2023 (PDF, 87 KB)
- Hearing date 24 - 25 July 2023 (PDF, 837 KB)
Media Releases
- MR [2024] NZSC 63 (PDF, 343 KB)
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave granted
Supreme court decision
Case name
Dennis Arthur Smith v Ian James Plowman, Nikau Grove Nursery Limited and Helen Irene Mitchell
Case number
SC 71/2022
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
21 September 2022
_________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 21 September 2022 (Smith v Plowman [2022] NZSC 109) is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
18 October 2022
B There is no order as to costs.
21 September 2022
_________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 21 September 2022 (Smith v Plowman [2022] NZSC 109) is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
18 October 2022
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Recall judgment
Case name
Peter Daniel Staite, Jean Tanirau-Carston and Lynette Kathleen Palmer as trustees and representatives of the beneficiaries of the Whaoa No 1 Lands Trust, Peter Daniel Staite, Jean Tanirau-Carston, Teressa Hurihanganui, Dorothy Raroa and Lynette Kathleen P
Case number
SC 72/2022
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicants must pay the respondents costs of $2,500.
20 October 2022
B The applicants must pay the respondents costs of $2,500.
20 October 2022
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
James Dillon Stevens v The King
Case number
SC 73/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
18 October 2022
18 October 2022
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Harry Memelink v Collins & May Law
Case number
SC 74/2022
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
10 November 2022
________________________________________________________
The application for recall is dismissed.
23 February 2024
B There is no order as to costs.
10 November 2022
________________________________________________________
The application for recall is dismissed.
23 February 2024
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Recall judgment
Case name
Justin Richard Burke v The King
Case number
SC 75/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted (Burke v R [2022] NZCA 279).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal correctly interpreted and applied s 66(2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
21 October 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________
A The appeal is allowed.
B We seek submissions from counsel on the consequential orders that should follow, as set out at [175] of the reasons of the Court.
22 April 2024
_________________________________________________________________________________
A The appellant’s conviction for manslaughter is quashed.
B An order is made under ss 234(2) and 241(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 substituting a conviction for injuring with intent to injure under s 189(2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
C An order is made under ss 234(5) and 241(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 substituting a sentence of three years’ imprisonment.
16 May 2024
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal correctly interpreted and applied s 66(2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
21 October 2022
__________________________________________________________________________________
A The appeal is allowed.
B We seek submissions from counsel on the consequential orders that should follow, as set out at [175] of the reasons of the Court.
22 April 2024
_________________________________________________________________________________
A The appellant’s conviction for manslaughter is quashed.
B An order is made under ss 234(2) and 241(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 substituting a conviction for injuring with intent to injure under s 189(2) of the Crimes Act 1961.
C An order is made under ss 234(5) and 241(2) of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 substituting a sentence of three years’ imprisonment.
16 May 2024
Date of hearing
20 March 2023
- 21 March 2023
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, O'Regan, Williams, Kós JJ | Venue Christchurch High Court Courtroom 12
Submissions from counsel
- Hearing 20 March 2023 Appellant Submissions (PDF, 428 KB)
- Hearing 20 March 2023 Respondent Submissions (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Hearing 20 March 2023 Intervener Submissions CBA (PDF, 910 KB)
- Hearing 20 March 2023 Intervener Submissions (PDF, 6.4 MB)
Transcripts
Case Synopses
- Hearing date 20 March and 21 March 2023 (PDF, 334 KB)
Media Releases
- MR [2024] NZSC 37 (PDF, 303 KB)
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Substantive judgment
JUSTIN RICHARD BURKE v R [2024] NZSC 59 [16 May 2024] (PDF, 181 KB)
Videos
- Justin Richard Burke v The King SC 75/2022 - 21 March 2023 (Recorded, 21 March 2023)
- Justin Richard Burke v The King SC 75/2022 - 20 March 2023 (Recorded, 20 March 2023)
Case name
Jiaxin Finance Limited, Qiang Fu and Fuqin Che v The King
Case number
SC 76/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
4 November 2022
4 November 2022
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
H (SC 77/2022) v The Queen
Case number
SC 77/2022
Summary
Order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until disposition of trial. Publication in law report or law digest permitted.
Result
Order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final disposition of trial. Publication in law report or law digest permitted.
25 August 2022
25 August 2022
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Case name
Tevita Kulu v The King
Case number
SC 78/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
27 March 2023
27 March 2023
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Case name
Kyle Ashley Kotze v New Zealand Police
Case number
SC 79/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for an extention of time to apply for leave to appeal is dismissed.
31 October 2022
31 October 2022
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
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