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
Ross Francis Hookway v The Queen
Case number
SC 1/2008
Summary
Criminal appeal – whether trial counsel is required to inform an accused of his or her right to instruct counsel and for counsel to be bound by those instructions – whether trial Judge was correct to give a Papadopoulos direction when the jury appeared to be deadlocked.[2007] NZCA 567 CA 466/06 11 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
HOOKWAY v R SC 1/2008 [9 April 2008] (PDF, 18 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
9 April 2008
Case name
John Bevan-Smith v Raupo Publishing (NZ) Limited
Case number
SC 2/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – breach of contract – book publication - whether Court of Appeal should have granted extension of time to file case on appeal – whether agreement between applicant and defendant void because of deceptive conduct – whether the defendant breached due diligence obligations in contract - whether the Court received misleading evidence regarding the motive’ s of the defendant – whether High Court made correct findings of fact especially regarding timing of events – whether the Court of Appeal should have reconsidered findings of fact made by the High Court – whether High Court correctly interpreted relevant clauses in contract –whether quantum of lost book sales correctly calculated – whether case should be remitted to the Court of Appeal to be reheard or to the High Court for a new trial.[2007] NZCA 579 CA 57/07 14 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $1,500 to the respondent.
9 April 2008
Case name
Matini Vaihu v The Attorney-General
Case number
SC 3/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – New Zealand Bill of Rights Act – Breach – Remedies – Damages – Torture or cruel or degrading or disproportionately severe treatment – Kidney dialysis patient, V, bitten by Police dog – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding bite inadvertent, not deliberate and lawful, so as to relieve Attorney-General of liability for actions of Police dog under control of handler – Whether bite of innocent bystander by Police dog under control of handler constitutes breach of s 9.[2007] NZCA 574 CA 180/06 13 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
7 April 2008
7 April 2008
Case name
A v The Queen
Case number
SC 4/2008
Summary
Criminal – applicant convicted of sexual violation by rape – victim was applicant’s three-year-old daughter – charges were brought after victim was diagnosed with gonorrhoea. Whether alleged expert evidence, supporting the possibility of non-sexual transmission of the disease, renders the conviction unsafe – application for leave to appeal out of time due to newly available evidence.CA 508/04 28 November 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
A v R SC 4/2008 [9 April 2008] (PDF, 17 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
9 April 2008
Case name
Philip Joseph Fava v Ekhlas Zaghloul and others
Case number
SC 5/2008
Summary
Civil appeal – Insolvency Act 1967 – High Court declined to approve a composition in satisfaction of debts due to creditors by a bankruptee on the grounds that the composition was not reasonable or calculated to benefit the general body of creditors under s 122(3)(b) - Court of Appeal upheld the decision under s 122(3)(b) and also on the basis that the composition was not expedient to be approved under s 122(3)(d) – whether Court of Appeal erred in failing to allow the appellant the opportunity to make written submissions on the issue of expediency – whether the decision based on expediency was wrong in law.[2007] NZCA 594 CA 568/07 21 December 2007
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
7April 2008
Case name
Shell (Petroleum Mining) Company Limited and others v Todd Petroleum Mining Company Limited and others
Case number
SC 6/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – Civil Procedure – Injunction – Contract – Breach – Remedies – Whether Court of Appeal correct to conclude overall contractual arrangements mean STOS not entitled to resign as Maui field Operator and Shell not entitled to encourage its STOS directors to vote in favour of resolution removing STOS as Operator – Whether Court of Appeal correct to conclude MDL/STOS contract of employment enforceable by Todd – Whether injunctive relief, rather than damages, correct remedy for any contract breach proved.[2007] NZCA 586 CA 144/06 18 December 2007Application for leave to appeal dismissed.Costs $2,500 to the first respondent.
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Elders New Zealand Limited v PGG Wrightson Lmited
Case number
SC 7/2008
Summary
Civil – Contract Law – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that an amalgamation approved under Part 15 of the Companies Act 1993 has the legal consequences provided for in s 219 of that Act – Whether an amalgamating company is entitled to “pick and choose” between Part 13 and Part 15 of the Companies Act 1993 – Whether the terms of the amalgamation order created the effect prescribed in Part 13 even though the order was made pursuant to Part 15 – Whether the applicant was bound by the Part 15 order although the order did not state that the applicant was bound.[2007] NZCA 596 CA 277/06 21 December 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
18 April 2008
_______________________
Appeal dismissed.Costs to respondent $15,000, together with reasonable disbursements.
5 December 2008
18 April 2008
_______________________
Appeal dismissed.Costs to respondent $15,000, together with reasonable disbursements.
5 December 2008
Media Releases
- sc 7 elders nz ltd v pggwrightson ltd press release (PDF, 89 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Transcript
Case name
Neville James Gibson v Minter Ellison Rudd Watts
Case number
SC 8/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – proceedings against former legal counsel - whether the Court of Appeal made accurate findings of fact – whether the Court of Appeal was correct to conclude that the respondent had complied with discovery obligations – whether the Court of Appeal had regard to all relevant evidence – whether the Court of Appeal was correct to find that the applicant would not have been entitled to legal aid in earlier proceedings against a third party – whether the respondent had a conflict of interest in earlier proceedings - whether the Court should have considered the applicant’ s financial position when awarding costs against him[2007] NZCA 595 CA 202/065, CA 33/06 21 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $2.500 to respondent. 1 May 2008
Case name
Robert Charles De Bruin v The Queen
Case number
SC 9/2008
Summary
Appeal against order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 - Court of Appeal held that the High Court had correctly calculated a pecuniary penalty order under s 25 of $1 million – whether first appellant more than a mere courier for the purposes of calculating the benefit received under s 27(2) – whether Court of Appeal wrong to follow R v Penderson [1995] 2 NZLR given position of couriers has not been resolved – whether Court of Appeal in error in upholding the High Court decision that the increase in value of the property was a benefit from the offending under s 28 – whether Court of Appeal was correct in finding that the appellants’ agreement under s 21 of the Property (Relationships) Act 2004 was intended to defeat the interests of the Crown as a creditor of the appellant – whether, given the second appellant’s appeal was successful in part, the Court of Appeal erred in ordering that the legal costs should be paid from the second appellant’s interest in the property.[2007] NZCA 600 CA 317/06 21 December 2007
Dates
Notice of Abandonment being lodged , the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
4 April 2008
Case name
Astrid Eleanor Delany v The Queen
Case number
SC 10/2008
Summary
Appeal against order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1991 - Court of Appeal held that the High Court had correctly calculated a pecuniary penalty order under s 25 of $1 million – whether first appellant more than a mere courier for the purposes of calculating the benefit received under s 27(2) – whether Court of Appeal wrong to follow R v Penderson [1995] 2 NZLR given position of couriers has not been resolved – whether Court of Appeal in error in upholding the High Court decision that the increase in value of the property was a benefit from the offending under s 28 – whether Court of Appeal was correct in finding that the appellants’ agreement under s 21 of the Property (Relationships) Act 2004 was intended to defeat the interests of the Crown as a creditor of the appellant – whether, given the second appellant’s appeal was successful in part, the Court of Appeal erred in ordering that the legal costs should be paid from the second appellant’s interest in the property.[2007] NZCA 600 CA 332/06 21 December 2007
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 1 May 2008
Page 210 of 250