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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
Jay Maui Wallace v The Queen
Case number
SC 99/2011
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against conviction and sentence – Whether trial was conducted unfairly resulting in a miscarriage of justice – Whether the High Court had jurisdiction to convict – Whether bail should be granted pending determination of the appeal.  [2011] NZCA 424  CA 471/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
18 October 2011.
Case name
SNC v The Queen
Case number
SC 101/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Evidence Act 2006 – Admissibility of evidence “improperly obtained” by police pursuant to a warrantless search – whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the District Court Judge’ s decision to admit the evidence in exercise of the balancing test required by subs 30(2) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal failed to give sufficient weight to and/or erred in its assessment of the listed factors in paras 30(3)(a), (b) and (d) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal gave too much weight to the importance of the evidence to the case of the prosecution[2011] NZCA 402   CA 191/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
18 October 2011.
Case name
Luaiava Fagalilo v Seneti Time
Case number
SC 102/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Trusts – The Green Valley Church Assembly formed in 1984 and was formally affiliated with Assemblies of God in New Zealand Incorporated (AOGNZ) – The church set up a trust to own their church property in 1985 – The Trust Deed specified that trustees could not act inconsistently with the AOGNZ Constitution and Rules – The Constitution stated that no member church could also hold a certificate of membership with another organised body with a distinct constitution – A schism in the church occurred in 2005 when the Samoan Assemblies of God New Zealand (SAOG), which some church members were affiliated with, incorporated – Trustees who were affiliated with the SAOG were not acting in accordance with the Trust Deed – Appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal requiring an election by the members of the church affiliated with the AOGNZ of persons to be nominated as trustees – Whether the Court of Appeal erred by effectively giving full control of church property to members affiliated with the AOGNZ – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in not obliging the respondent to enter into dialogue aimed at settlement of the parties’ differences –   Whether the Court of Appeal erred by failing to consider the existence of constructive trusts whereby the Trust Board holds its assets in trust for the people who paid for them or otherwise contributed to them since acquisition.  [2010] NZCA 402   CA 191/2010
Dates
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs payable by the applicant to the respondent of $2,500.
16 April 2012.
Case name
Vincent Ross Siemer v Michael Peter Stiassney and Korda Mentha
Case number
SC 103/2011
Summary
[Civil Appeal – Injunctions – Strike-out – Applicant applied to set aside, rescind and/or vary injunction – Whether Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to strike out applicant’s appeal as vexatious and an abuse of process without first hearing from the parties. [2011] NZCA 466   CA 262/2011
Dates

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs of $2,500 to the respondents.

3 October 2011.
Case name
FCM v Refugee Status Appeals Authority and Chief Executive of the Department of Labour
Case number
SC 105/2011
Summary
Civil – declining to review amount of security for costs fixed by Court of Appeal registrar.[2011] NZCA 441  CA 653/2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
sc 105 2011 m v refugee status appeals authority and anor leave judgm (PDF, 43 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
24 November 2011.
Case name
James Joseph Kapa v The Queen
Case number
SC 114/2011
Summary
[2011] NZCA 504 CA 407/2010 CA 572/2010
Result
Leave to appeal is granted in respect of the sentence of reparation only.
The approved ground is whether the sentence of reparation complied with the requirements of s 32 of the Sentencing Act 2002.

 

7 February 2012

____________________________

Appeal is allowed. The sentence of reparation is quashed.

20 December 2012
Transcript

Hearing date : 7 August 2012

Elias CJ, McGrath, William Young, Chambers, Glazebrook J.
Case name
Shelley Anne Francis Mitchell v Trustees Executors Limited
Case number
SC 115/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Summary judgment against guarantor of defaulted loan – That the respondent breached its duty to act fairly in relation to the sale and letting of the mortgaged property, in particular through its non-compliance with the Property Law Act 2007, and the appellant therefore has a defence to the action – That this conduct entitles the appellant to re-open the loan contract for oppression.[2011] NZCA 519   CA 217/2010
Dates
Notice of abandonment being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
1 March 2012.
Case name
W v The Queen
Case number
SC 117/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Counsel error – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that trial counsel’s advice to the applicant not to give or call evidence was reasonably open to him in the circumstances – Whether or not the Court of Appeal adequately addressed the applicant’ s claim that acceptance of trial counsel’s advice not to give evidence was based on a fundamental misunderstanding of that part of his advice which was intended to inform the applicant of the advantages of giving evidence – Whether the Court of Appeal omitted or misstated evidence supporting the applicant’s allegations on appeal that the trial counsel gave advice in a manner that usurped the applicant’s right to make elections about evidence, impacting on the credibility of the decisions made by the Court of Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal’s decision that the result of the applicant’s trial could not possibly have been affected if the applicant or any other of the applicant’s witnesses had given evidence was available to it on the evidence.[2011] NZCA 529   CA 702/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
13 February 2012.
Case name
Ricky Tamati v The Queen
Case number
SC 119/2011
Summary
Criminal – Evidence Act 2006 – jury direction – appeal against conviction on four representative charges of sexual violation and one of indecent assault – primary focus at trial had been the reliability of the evidence of the complainant who had suffered brain injury at a young age – whether the trial Judge erred in failing to warn the jury, as is permitted under s 122(1) of the Act if of the opinion that evidence admitted “may nevertheless be unreliable”, of the need for caution in deciding whether to accept the evidence of the complainant and the weight to be given to that evidence – if so, whether the failure to give a warning to the jury led to a miscarriage of justice[2010] NZCA 49   CA 440/2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
sc 119 2011 ricky john tamati v the queen leave judgment (PDF, 40 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
13 December 2011.
Case name
Michael Andrew Keith Hastie  v The Queen
Case number
SC 120/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the trial Judge should have given a Papadopoulos direction.[2011] NZCA 498   CA 153/2011
Result

The application for leave to appeal is granted.

The approved grounds of appeal are whether the directions given to the jury before it delivered its verdicts were appropriate and, if not, whether this gave rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice?

9 February 2012

_______________________

Appeal dismissed.

23 July 2012
Transcript

Hearing date : 7 June 2012

Elias CJ, Tipping, McGrath, William Young, Chambers JJ
Page 177 of 244