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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.

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
Wan Lee Chow v The Queen
Case number
SC 126/2013
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Crimes Act 1961, s 385; New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, ss 9, 24(g) and 25(a); Sentencing Act 2002, s 104 – Whether the trial was unfair because disclosed documents were not translated and no special measures were taken during the trial to accommodate the appellant’ s intellectual difficulties – Whether the appellant’s sentence should have been discounted on the basis of intellectual impairment, age and hardship due to isolation resulting from communication difficulties – Whether intellectual impairment, age and hardship due to isolation resulting from communication difficulties should have led to a finding that the application of s 104 of the Sentencing Act was manifestly unjust – Whether the length of the sentence imposed amounted to disproportionately severe punishment in breach of s 9 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.[2013] NZCA 360   CA 695/2011
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
WAN YEE CHOW v R [2014] NZSC 29 [28 March 2014] (PDF, 41 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

28 March 2014.
Case name
Patrick Dean Norris  v The Queen
Case number
SC 127/2013
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Crimes Act 1961, s 220 – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the requirements of s 220 were met – whether the Court of Appeal erred in refusing to allow the applicant to adduce new evidence[2013] NZCA 526  CA 59/2013
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
PATRICK DEAN NORRIS v R [2013] NZSC 138 [4 December 2013] (PDF, 84 KB)
Dates

 Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

4 December 2013.
Case name
Terry Jones  v The Queen
Case number
SC 128/2013
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal because there was no question of law to be decided – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in setting aside the stay granted by the High Court.[2013] NZCA 483  CA 826/2012
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TERRY JONES v R [2014] NZSC 85   4 July 2014 (PDF, 88 KB)
Dates

Leave hearing  7 April 2014

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

4 July 2014.
Case name
Yandina Investments Limited v ANZ National Bank Limited, Westpac Banking Corporation and BNZ Investments Limited
Case number
SC 129/2013
Summary
Civil Appeal – Strike out application – Deeds of Assignment – Did the Court of Appeal correctly determine the subject matter being assigned under the Deeds – How should the principles for the interpretation of commercial contracts from Vector Gas Ltd v Bay of Plenty Energy Ltd [2010] 2 NZLR 444 apply in proceedings where there is an alleged lack of information as to the background of entry into the contract as well as its context – Reconsideration of Junior Farms Ltd v Hampton Securities Ltd (in liquidation) [2006] NZSC 60 as to the application of substantial miscarriage of justice ground in s 13(2) of the Supreme Court Act 2003 to civil appeals. [2013] NZCA 469  CA 529/2012
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
YANDINA INVESTMENTS LIMITED v ANZ NATIONAL BANK LIMITED [2014] NZSC 28 [26 March 2014] (PDF, 57 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

Costs of $2,500 plus reasonable disbursements to the respondents.
Case name
Larry Gordon Cant  v The Queen
Case number
SC 130/2013
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal acted improperly in dismissing all six grounds of the applicant’s appeal against conviction, including as to his self-representation at trial – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the applicant’s appeal against sentence.[2013] NZCA 513  CA 250/2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
LARRY GORDON CANT v R [2014] NZSC 139 [9 October 2014] (PDF, 52 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
9 October 2014.
Case name
Adrian James Leason, Peter Reginald Leo Murnane and Samuel Peter Frederick Land v The Attorney-General
Case number
SC 131/2013
Summary
Civil Appeal – Trespass – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in relation to its interpretation and application of the principle ex turpi causa non oritur actio – Whether the Court of Appeal erred by refusing to order a full trial in light of the assumed wrongful conduct given its obligations at international law – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in relation to its interpretation or application of defence of another and/or necessity – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in relation to the interpretation and application of the law governing admissibility of additional evidence on appeal.[2013] NZCA 509  CA 642/2011
Dates

Notice of abandonment being lodged, the application for leave to appeal is deemed to be dismissed.

5 February 2014.
Case name
Mortgage Administration Services (Calibre) Limited v Calibre Financial Services Limited
Case number
SC 132/2013
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the first appellant was liable to indemnify the respondent for the GST sum payable on the mortgage advanced by the respondent – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the first appellant’s counterclaim could not succeed as the agreement underlying it had been terminated.
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MORTGAGE ADMINISTRATION SERVICES (CALIBRE) LIMITED v CALIBRE FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED [2014] NZSC 14 [4 March 2014] (PDF, 46 KB)
Dates

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

The first applicant must pay the respondent costs in the amount of $2,500.
4 March 2014.

[2013] NZCA 503  CA 538/2012
Case name
Stephen Ross Tebbs v The Queen
Case number
SC 133/2013
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Land Transport Act 1998 – Whether or not the blood sample relied on by the police was taken in accordance with “ normal medical procedure”
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TEBBS v R [2014] NZSC 16 [5 March 2014] (PDF, 51 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

5 March 2014

[2013] NZCA 523  CA 160/2013
Case name
Razdan Rafiq v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
Case number
SC 134/2013
Summary
Civil appeal – Whether Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss application to review the Registrar’s decision refusing to waive security for costs – Whether waiver of security for costs is in the interests of justice.  [2013] NZCA 586  CA 577/2013
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
RAZDAN RAFIQ v THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND EMPLOYMENT [2014] NZSC 7 [19 February 2014] (PDF, 41 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
19 February 2014.
Case name
John Alfred Vogel v The Attorney-General and others
Case number
SC 135/2013
Summary
Civil Appeal – Prisoners’ and Victims’ Claims Act 2005, s 13 - Whether the Court of Appeal erred in declining to make an award of damages in favour of the applicant following a breach of his rights under s 23(5) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and s 33(3)(g) of the Penal Institutions Act 1954.[2013] NZCA 545  CA 171/2012
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
JOHN ALFRED VOGEL v ATTORNEY-GENERAL [2014] NZSC 5 [19 February 2014] (PDF, 57 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
19 February 2014.
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