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
Wynston Alexander Cecil Chirnside & Rattray Properties Limited v Richard Elmore Fay
Case number
SC CIV 7/2004
Summary
Civil appeal – commercial relationship for the purposes of property development – whether this gave rise to a joint venture of a commercial kind – whether a fiduciary relationship can arise where parties are negotiating towards a joint venture – whether in this case the parties owed fiduciary obligations to each other.
Result
A. The appeal and cross-appeal are each allowed in part.
B. The damages and interest awards made by the Court of Appeal are set aside.
C. The judgment entered for Mr Fay against Mr Chirnside in the High Court is varied from $495,000 to $850,000 plus interest as awarded by the High Court.
D. Judgment is entered for Mr Fay against Rattray Properties Ltd for $850,000 plus interest in the same terms as awarded against Mr Chirnside. E. The caveat lodged by Mr Fay against the title to the Harvey Norman project is to be removed. F. Mr Chirnside is to pay Mr Fay costs in respect of the proceedings in this court in the total sum of $15,000 plus disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the registrar. The costs awarded to Mr Fay in the Court of Appeal are increased from $4,000 to $10,000. Costs in the High Court are to remain as fixed by that court. 6 September 2006
B. The damages and interest awards made by the Court of Appeal are set aside.
C. The judgment entered for Mr Fay against Mr Chirnside in the High Court is varied from $495,000 to $850,000 plus interest as awarded by the High Court.
D. Judgment is entered for Mr Fay against Rattray Properties Ltd for $850,000 plus interest in the same terms as awarded against Mr Chirnside. E. The caveat lodged by Mr Fay against the title to the Harvey Norman project is to be removed. F. Mr Chirnside is to pay Mr Fay costs in respect of the proceedings in this court in the total sum of $15,000 plus disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the registrar. The costs awarded to Mr Fay in the Court of Appeal are increased from $4,000 to $10,000. Costs in the High Court are to remain as fixed by that court. 6 September 2006
Leave judgment - leave granted
Transcript
Substantive judgment / Media release
Case name
Te Runanga O Muriwhenua v Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission; The Attorney-General of New Zealand; The Minister of Fisheries; Te Kotahitanga O Te Arawa Fisheries Trust and Te Runanaga O Ngai Tahu
Case number
SC CIV 8/2004
Summary
Judicial review - allocation of assets provided in settlement of Maori commercial fishing claims - whether the final allocation model proposed by the Commission in its final report He Kawai Amokaura is unreasonable - whether the allocation model should have taken into account alleged inequities deriving from the way quota was managed by the Commission from 1990 onwards - whether the consultation undertaken by the Commission leading up to its final report on this issue was sufficient. CA 73/04 30 June 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. 23 September 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Lionel William Burt v Liu Sheung Wong.
Case number
SC CIV 10/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - lawfulness of discretionary distributions of capital by trustees of an estate to life tenant - life tenant lent capital to eventual beneficiaries of residuary estate - whether discretionary distribution amounted to a fraud upon a power - whether trustees protected from personal liability by an exoneration clause or s73 Trustee Act 1956 - meaning of "honesty" in the context of an exoneration clause or s73 Trustee Act 1956. CA100/03 4 August 2004
Dates
Notice of abandonment of appeal being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
3 February 2005
Case name
Union House Limited and Union House Lease Limited v Auckland City Council.
Case number
SC CIV 11/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - contract interpretation - whether contract unassignable because of the existence of a confidentiality clause prohibiting disclosure of the terms of the agreement - whether the assignment was ineffective where the assigning party breached the confidentiality clause - whether the case should have been remitted back to the High Court to determine whether the pleadings could be amended to allege a breach of the confidentiality clause.
CA162/03 11 August 2004
Result
Leave to appeal granted.
15 December 2004
___________________
Appeal Hearing Date
22 March 2005
_____________
Notice of abandonment of appeal being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
23 March 2005
Leave judgment - leave granted
Transcription
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Pharmacy Care Systems Limited v The Attorney-General.
Case number
SC CIV 12/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - contract law - correct test for whether a contract or deed is voidable because it is entered into under duress - whether duress was established on the facts of this case - whether the Court of Appeal breached natural justice by finding that the applicant had affirmed the deed when affirmation was not pleaded by the respondent as a defence - whether affirmation by silence requires the respondent to have relied on that silence to its detriment. CA198/03 16 August 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused. Costs to the respondent $1,000 plus disbursements as fixed by the Registrar. 9 November 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Ahmed Zaoui v The Attorney-General, The Superintendent, Auckland Remand Prison and Human Rights Commission.
Case number
SC CIV 13/2004
Summary
Habeas Corpus - application for Habeas Corpus or bail under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court where the applicant is detained on the basis of a security risk certificate issued pursuant to Part 4A Immigration Act 1987. CA166/04 17 September 2004 PDF 258kb
Result
14 October 2004. Gault J; Keith J. Leave to appeal granted.
14 October 2004
______________________________
Declaration that there is jurisdiction to grant bail and to vary warrant. Court to reconvene on Thursday 9 December 2004 to hear further argument.
25 November 2004
_______________
Bail allowed on conditions 9 December 2004
14 October 2004
______________________________
Declaration that there is jurisdiction to grant bail and to vary warrant. Court to reconvene on Thursday 9 December 2004 to hear further argument.
25 November 2004
_______________
Bail allowed on conditions 9 December 2004
Transcripts
- Hearing date 10 and 11 November 2004 (PDF, 437 KB)
- Hearing date 9 December 2004 (PDF, 105 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
Supreme court decision
Case name
The Attorney-General v Television New Zealand Ltd.
Case number
SC CIV 14/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - judicial review - whether granting a media interview to a detained person would risk undermining the administrative processes in which he was involved - whether involvement in such processes constitutes a limit on a detained person's freedom of expression. CA169/04 17 September 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused. 14 October 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Edward Herbert Collingwood and Others v Minister of Internal Affairs, Hamilton City Council and Others.
Case number
SC CIV 15/2004
Summary
Appeal against refusal by Court of Appeal to grant leave to appeal out of time - appeal against further application for leave being struck out as an abuse of process. CA56/01 19 July 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused. 2 November 2004 PDF 12kb
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Latimer Holdings Ltd and John William Powell v Sea Holdings New Zealand Ltd.
Case number
SC CIV 16/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing an appeal from the interlocutory decision of the High Court entering summary judgment in favour of the respondent - whether detriment suffered by the applicant was within the category of unfair detriment in s174 Companies Act. CA 214/03 15 September 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. Costs to respondent $1000 and disbursements. 24 November 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Ponifasio Ioane v Waitakere City Council.
Case number
SC CIV 17/2004
Summary
Employment law - Whether the employee's own conduct was causative of his dismissal - Whether the Employment Court was obliged under the Employment Contracts Act 1991 to reduce the damages awarded to the employee - Whether the employee was unduly prejudiced by the Employment Court's failure to explicitly state that medical evidence could be adduced at a resumed hearing. CA 21/03 9 September 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. 3 December 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
Page 241 of 244