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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
Joshua Chris Woodcook v The Queen
Case number
SC 110/2010
Summary
Criminal Appeal – whether the trial judge misdirected the jury on its power to return majority verdicts resulting in a miscarriage of justice.  [2010] NZCA 489 CA 733/2009 28 October 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
sc 110 2010 joshua chris woodcock v the queen (PDF, 45 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

16 February 2011
Case name
Brian Thomas Street v Michael John Brouwers
Case number
SC 111/2010
Summary
Civil Appeal – tort of removal of support and negligence – causation – landslip encroaching on common boundary of adjoining property causing land to subside and reducing the value of the adjoining property – whether the Court of Appeal erred on the issue of causation – whether the Court of Appeal erred in their approach to the tort of removal of support and negligence.[2010] NZCA 463   CA 374 /2009  13 October 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
STREET v BROUWERS SC 111/2010 [9 March 2011] (PDF, 60 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

9 March 2011
Case name
M D M v Serious Fraud Office
Case number
SC 112/2010
Summary
Refusal to grant name suppression.CRI 2010 404 338 19 October 2010
Dates

Notice of abandonment being lodged, the application is deemed to be dismissed.

25 November 2010.
Case name
CJH  v The Queen
Case number
SC 113/2010
Summary
Refusal to grant name suppression.CRI 2008 006 2346  Judge Harvey
Dates

Notice of abandonment being lodged, the application is deemed to be dismissed.

25 November 2010.
Case name
DJB  v The Queen
Case number
SC 114/2010
Summary
Criminal – Evidence Act 2006 – Admissibility of prior consistent statements – whether the complainant’s prior consistent statements to third parties, led in evidence in chief within a video interview, were admissible in application of s 35(2) of the Act – Admissibility of statements made by the defendant – whether evidence given by the complainant’ s mother of a statement made by the defendant should have been excluded on the basis that the risk of an unfairly prejudicial effect on the proceeding outweighed its limited probative value pursuant to s 8 of the Act[2010] NZCA 493  CA 110/2010   29  October 2010
Result
The application for leave to appeal is granted. The approved ground is whether the evidence of complaints to two family members was admissible.
25 February 2011
____________________________
Appeal dismissed.
9 June 2011
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
B v R SC 114/2010 [25 February 2011] (PDF, 137 KB)
Substantive judgment
B(SC 114/2010) v R SC 114/2010 [9 June 2011] (PDF, 66 KB)
Transcript

Hearing date : 5 May 2011

Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath, William Young JJ.
Case name
Dean McArthur Keown  v The Queen
Case number
SC 115/2010
Summary
Criminal – Sentencing appeal – Whether the discount in sentence for Mr Keown’s time spent on electronically monitored bail was appropriately given by the Court of Appeal in accordance with sentencing principles.[2010] NZCA 492  CA 401/2010   29  October 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
KEOWN v R SC 115/2010 [16 February 2011] (PDF, 39 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

16 February 2011
Case name
Vincent Ross Siemer v The Solicitor-General
Case number
SC 116/2010
Summary
Civil Appeal – costs – whether costs should have been awarded against the applicant when the respondent discontinued contempt of court proceedings – whether the Judge was biased.[2010] NZCA 549  CA 126/2010   23 November  2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SIEMER v THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL SC 116/2010 [7 February 2011] (PDF, 13 KB)
Recall judgment
SIEMER v THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL SC 116/2010 [1 April 2011] (PDF, 76 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

Costs $2500 to the respondent.

7 February 2010.

Application for recall dismissed.

1 April 2011.
Case name
Azeeez Mahomed v The Queen
Case number
SC 117/2010
Summary
Criminal – Murder – Whether Court of Appeal erred in pre-trial ruling admitting certain propensity/narrative evidence against the applicant – Whether Court of Appeal in dismissing appeal erred in concluding trial Judge not required to give specific directions on propensity evidence at trial – Whether evidence of applicant’s low intellectual capacity and wife’s post-natal depression should have been admitted at trial – Whether trial Judge was entitled to comment on applicant’s decision not to give evidence – Whether new evidence of accident purportedly explaining daughter’s injuries should be admitted.[2010] NZCA 419 CA 779/2009 14 September  2010.
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted,
The approved grounds are:
(i)         Whether the evidence concerning the child’s being left in the car on 19 December 2007 was admissible; and
(ii)         If so, whether the Judge’s directions relating to that evidence were adequate.  
8 February 2011
__________________________
Appeal dismissed.
19 May 2011
Media Releases
Substantive judgment
MAHOMED v R SC 97/2010, SC 117/2010 [19 May 2011] (PDF, 321 KB)
Transcript

Hearing date : 17 February 2011

Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath, William Young JJ.
Case name
Wing Hung Printing Company Limited and others v Saito Offshore Pty Ltd
Case number
SC 118/2010
Summary
Civil – Conflict of laws – Whether New Zealand is the appropriate forum for trial of the dispute – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its calculus of the issues relevant to the appropriate forum choice – Whether the Court of Appeal had an evidential foundation for finding the business relationship was ‘predominately Australasian’ – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in extending the extraterritorial effect of the Fair Trading Act 1986 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in the exercise of its discretion to dismiss a protest to jurisdiction on terms.[2010] NZCA 502  CA 437/2009   5 November  2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
WING HUNG PRINTING COMPANY LIMITED v SAITO OFFSHORE PTY LIMITED SC SC 118/2010 [15 March 2011] (PDF, 11 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs of  $2,500 and reasonable disbursements to the respondent.

15 March  2011.
Case name
Graham Ashley Robert Palmer v The Queen
Case number
SC 119/2010
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against conviction for dishonest use of a GST return – whether the conduct of the  investigation and criminal prosecution of the applicant was in breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, s 30 of the Sentencing Act 2002 and the Judges’ Rules – whether the trial Judge misdirected the jury as to the identity of a witness – whether the trial Judge erred in his summing up to the jury  – whether the Court of Appeal erred in failing to take into account evidence produced by the applicant as to the value of goods – whether there has been error in the calculation of the period for which the applicant is subject to release conditions following his sentence of imprisonment[2010] NZCA 53  CA 349/2009    5 March 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
PALMER v R SC 119/2010 [22 March 201 (PDF, 39 KB)
Hearing
Dates
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