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
Christine Mary Herron and another v Westpac New Zealand Limited
Case number
SC 121/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Evidence – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its assessment of a witness’s credibility – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its treatment of evidence that was allegedly of a hearsay character – Whether the respondent breached any of its obligations in relation to putting relevant evidence (allegedly in its possession) before the Court.[2011] NZCA 544 CA 505/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs $2,500 to the respondent.
17 February 2012.
17 February 2012.
Case name
Station Properties Limited (in liquidation) v Shane Arthur Paget
Case number
SC 122/2011
Summary
[2011] NZCA 570 CA 36/2010
Dates
Notice of abandonment being lodged, the appeal for leave to appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
13 February 2012
13 February 2012
Case name
MFT Properties Limited v Country Club Apartments Limited
Case number
SC 123/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Leases – Contracts Enforcement Act 1956 – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding a binding oral agreement to vary rental rate rather than indulgence revocable at will by lessor – Whether oral agreement constituted sufficient memorandum for purposes or Contracts Enforcement Act or whether alternatively doctrine of part performance could apply to agreement – Whether Court of Appeal erred in factual findings in respect of accommodation charge set-off and penalty interest liability.[2011] NZCA 560 CA 244/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed, costs of $2,500 to the respondent.
29 February 2012.
29 February 2012.
Case name
Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota Inc and others v OCS Limited
Case number
SC 124/2011
Summary
Employment – Employment Relations Act 2000, ss 69N(3) and 69O – Relationship between the Act and the parties’ (collective) employment agreement – Express exclusion of monetary compensation for redundancy by terms of agreement, with alternative forms of entitlement also provided for – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that appellants are not entitled to seek (bargain for) appropriate redundancy entitlements under the Act [2011] NZCA 597 CA 865/2010
Result
Leave to appeal is granted.
The approved questions are whether, and if so to what extent, the multi-employer collective employment agreement precludes the second appellants from bargaining for redundancy entitlements under s 69N of the Employment Relations Act 2000.
28 February 2012
_________________________
The appeal is allowed.
The orders made by the Court of Appeal are set aside.
The orders made by the Employment Court are reinstated.
9 August 2012
Transcript
Tipping, McGrath, William Young, Gault, Blanchard JJ.
Case name
Mark Terence Pearson v The Queen
Case number
SC 125/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Section 76 of the Evidence Act 2006 – Illegitimate reasoning by jury – That the Court of Appeal was wrong to decline to interview one of the jury members at the appellant’s trial – That the application should be heard out of time. [2011] NZCA 572 CA 411/2011
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
27 April 2012.
27 April 2012.
Case name
Ross Nathan v The Queen
Case number
SC 126/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Attempt to adduce fresh evidence – Whether evidence of the complainant allegedly being in a sexual relationship at the time that the offence was committed was relevant to the complainant’ s reliability and credibility – Whether failure to adduce that evidence resulted in a substantial miscarriage of justice.[2011] NZCA 578 CA 318/2011
Dates
Hearing
Case name
Xing Hua Du v Ming Gu
Case number
SC 127/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Joint Venture Agreement – The applicant and respondent were parties to a joint venture agreement, the terms of which were breached by the respondent, but the respondent raised a number of positive defences – The Court of Appeal held that the respondent was allowed to avoid the joint agreement because of the applicant’s failure to comply with ss 63 and 64 of the Real Estate Agents Act 1976 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the termination of the agency agreement between the applicant and a real estate agency required, by way of reasonable notice, not less than 14 days notice – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that, because the agency agreement was still afoot, and because ss 63 and 64 of the Real Estate Agents Act were not complied with, the joint venture agreement was voidable – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that the respondent’s cancellation of the joint venture agreement was a valid exercise of her rights under s 63(3) of the Real Estate Agents Act.[2011] NZCA 577 CA 867/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $2,500 to the respondent.
6 March 2012.
6 March 2012.
Case name
Ricardo Aryan v The Queen
Case number
SC 128/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the applicant’s appeal against conviction – Whether conviction should be appealed because of fresh evidence.[2010] NZCA 57 CA 614/2009
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
13 March 2012.
13 March 2012.
Case name
Barry John Hart v Standards Committee of the New Zealand Law Society and the Lawyers and Conveyances Disciplinary Tribunal.
Case number
SC 129/2011
Summary
Civil – Name suppression – Legal professional conduct – Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 – Whether High Court and Court of Appeal, in declining to suppress applicant’s name, erred in their approaches to principles applicable to name suppression in context of disciplinary charges under Lawyers and Conveyancers Act – Significance of nature of charges against applicant – Weight to be given to inaccurate media reports of charges – Whether Court of Appeal’s orders sufficiently protect applicant – Effect of applicant’s high public profile and associated prejudicial effects arising from publication. [2011] NZCA 671 CA 839/2011
Dates
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
In place of the order made by McGrath J on 21 December 2011 in relation to the searching of court files, we order that the Supreme Court file in relation to the application not be searched without the permission of a Judge.
13 February 2012.
In place of the order made by McGrath J on 21 December 2011 in relation to the searching of court files, we order that the Supreme Court file in relation to the application not be searched without the permission of a Judge.
13 February 2012.
Case name
Jacqueline Elaine Wihongi v The Queen
Case number
SC 130/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Sentencing – Sentencing Act 2002, s 102 – appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to raise the Applicant’ s sentence from 8 years to 12 years – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its assessment of the Applicant’s future risk of violent offending – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that a longer finite sentence would increase the level of public safety – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its consideration of the Applicant’s mental impairments – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its consideration of the Applicant’ s favourable qualities – whether the application should be heard even though it was filed out of time.[2011] NZCA 592 CA 641/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
6 March 2012.
6 March 2012.
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