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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.

8 November 2024

Case information summary 2024 (as at 8 November 2024) –  Cases where leave granted (126 KB)
Case information summary 2024 (as at 8 November 2024)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 116 KB)

All years

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
Media Releases
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
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
W v R SC 117/2011 [13 February 2012] (PDF, 42 KB)
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
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.
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
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.
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

Hearing date : 26 July 2012

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.
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