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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
Dharminder Singh v The Queen
Case number
SC 87/2009
Summary
Criminal – s 361D Crimes Act 1961 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation of s 361D of the Act – Whether the Court of Appeal had sufficient regard to ss 24(e) or 5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 when interpreting s 361D.[2009] NZCA 380  CA 273/09  28 August 2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 20 October 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
PORTER AND ORS V R SC 85/2009 20 October 2009
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Surjit Singh v The Queen
Case number
SC 88/2009
Summary
Criminal – s 361D Crimes Act 1961 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation of s 361D of the Act – Whether the Court of Appeal had sufficient regard to ss 24(e) or 5 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 when interpreting s 361D[2009] NZCA 380  CA 279/09  28 August 2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 20 October 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
PORTER AND ORS V R SC 85/2009 20 October 2009
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Tulsi Ram Naresh v Gordon Edward McCluskie
Case number
SC 89/2009
Summary
Civil – whether the Court of Appeal erred in law and fact in finding that the appellant should be removed as a trustee of a family trust pursuant to s 51 of the Trustee Act 1956 – whether the Court of Appeal erred in making an award of indemnity costs against the appellant – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that, for limitation purposes, time ran from October 1993.[2009] NZCA 328  CA 766/2008   28 July  2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Indemnity costs to the respondent. 26 November 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
NARESH V MCCLUSKIE SC 89/2009 26 November 2009
Supreme court decision
NARESH v McCLUSKIE SC 89/2009 [18 December 2009] (PDF, 8 KB)
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Chesterfields Preschools Limited, David John Hampton and others v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 90/2009
Summary
Civil – GST Act 1995 - Costs awards – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in allowing the appeals of the Commissioner for a stay of payment of costs awards in favour of the applicant.[2009] NZCA 373 CA 607/2008   25 August 2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $3,000 plus disbursements to the respondent. 8 December 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
CHESTERFIELDS PRESCHOOLS LIMITED AND ORS V THE COMMISSIONER OF INLAND REVENUE SC 90/2009 8 December 2009
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Phillip Michael McMaster v The Queen
Case number
SC 91/2009
Summary
Criminal appeal – appeal against convictions for aggravated robbery and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle – whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the evidence of two co-accused was insufficiently cogent to give rise to a miscarriage of justice when the Crown case identifying the applicant as a participant in the offending was reliant on a third co-accused who was motivated to give false evidence to minimise his role in the offending.[2009] NZCA 393  CA 608/2008   9 September   2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 10 February 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MCMASTER V R SC 91/2009 11 February 2010 (PDF, 9 KB)
Transcript

 
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Ludgater Holdings Limited v Gerling Australia Insurance Company Pty Limited
Case number
SC 92/2009
Summary
Civil appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in applying s 9 of the Law Reform Act 1936, namely whether the Court of Appeal erred in not finding that the respondent had a sufficient presence in New Zealand and whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the High Court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction –  whether s 9 has an extraterritorial effect – whether, if the High Court does have jurisdiction, the Court in the exercise of its discretion should decline or allow jurisdiction[2009] NZCA 397  CA 546/2008   11 September   2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
16 December 2009
___________________________
Appeal dismissed. Cost to respondent $15,000 plus reasonable disbursements.
11 May 2010
Media Releases
Substantive judgment
LUDGATER HOLDINGS LIMITED v GERLING AUSTRALIA INSURANCE COMPANY PTY LIMITED SC 92/2009 [11 May 2010] (PDF, 99 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
sc 92 2009 ludgater holdings leave judgment (PDF, 36 KB)
Transcript
 Hearing date : 23 March 2010
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
The Queen v George Evans Gwaze
Case number
SC 93/2009
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against case stated decision – Whether Court of Appeal majority erred in concluding that the trial Judge’s decision to allow inadmissible hearsay “evidence” was an error of fact rather than an error of law and that therefore the case stated provisions of the Crimes Act 1961 were not engaged – Whether the Court of Appeal President erred in concluding that the Crown could succeed on an appeal under ss 380 and 380 of the Crimes Act 1961 in this case only if “To set aside the acquittal and direct a new trial would not be an unacceptable derogation from the spirit of the rule against double jeopardy”.[2009] NZCA 430  CA 90/2009   24 September   2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
23 November 2009
______________________
A The appeal is allowed and the acquittals are quashed. B A new trial is directed under s  382(2)(b) of the Crimes Act 1961. C  A certified direction for new trial will issue to the Registrar of the High Court at Christchurch with the consequences provided for by ss 380(4) and 382(4) of the Crimes Act.
17 May 2010
Transcripts
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
R v GWAZE SC 93/2009 [23 November 2009] (PDF, 7 KB)
Substantive judgment
R v GWAZE SC 93/2009 [17 May 2010] (PDF, 167 KB)
Transcript

Hearing date : 25 February 2010

Elias CJ, Blanchard, McGrath, Wilson J.
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Justin Leigh Harney v New Zealand Police
Case number
SC 94/2009
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction - appellant convicted in the District Court on charges of reckless driving and failing to stop – whether the Judge was correct in finding that there were good reasons for not following a formal identification procedure – whether the Judge was correct in finding that the circumstances in which the identification was made produced a reliable identification beyond reasonable doubt - application made to appeal from the High Court directly to the Supreme Court because the area of law has recently been considered by the Court of Appeal and the Court is divided on this issue.CRI 2009 – 409 – 141   13  October   2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 8 December 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
HARNEY V NEW ZEALAND POLICE SC 94/2009 8 December 2009
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
JD & CE Henson Partnership and others v Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 95/2009
Summary
Civil – Tax Administration Act 1994 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in determining what is sufficient to constitute a statutory Notice of Assessment – Whether the Court of Appeal wrongly stated that the applicants’ assessments were subsequently amended – Whether the Court of Appeal was wrong to find that the Taxation Review Authority addressed the correctness of the assessments without objection from the applicants – Whether the Court of Appeal was wrong to find that the Taxation Review Authority had jurisdiction under the Notices of Assessment.[2009] NZCA 423   CA  661/2008   22 September    2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs to the respondents of $3,000 plus disbursements. 15 December 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
J D AND C E HENSON PARTNERSHIP AND ORS V THE COMMISSIONER OF INLAND REVENUE SC 95/2009 15 December 2009 (PDF, 42 KB)
Judgment appealed from

 
Case name
Alex Kwong Wong v The Queen
Case number
SC 96/2009
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction and sentence – convictions for importing methamphetamine and possessing for supply – during jury deliberations at the applicant’s retrial (following successful appeal in R v Wong [2008] 3 NZLR 1) the jury sent a note to the judge stating that they had finished deliberating, the judge sought clarification and the jury sent a second note stating that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the charges, noting that “further effort would result in bullying” – the judge gave a standard Papadopoulos direction – whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the applicant’s convictions as safe – whether there has been a substantial miscarriage of justice – whether the Court of Appeal erred in determining that the applicant’ s minimum period of imprisonment was set correctly – whether the High Court judge wrongly allowed the Police to destroy certain evidence after the first trial – the applicant also seeks an interlocutory order to adduce both rebuttal evidence and new evidence in the form of a market research survey.[2009] NZCA 440   CA  190/2009, CA 356/2009  28 September   2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismised. 2 March 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
WONG V R SC 96/2009 2 March 2010
Judgment appealed from

 
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