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
B and others v Crown Health Financing Agency
Case number
SC 72/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – Mental Health – Treatment – Statutory Interpretation – Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding all informal patients in psychiatric hospitals were within leave and immunity provisions contained in s 6 of the Mental Health Act 1935 and s 124 of the Mental Health Act 1969 (“leave and immunity provisions”) – Whether, alternatively, Court of Appeal erred in holding leave and immunity provisions apply to all informal patients after 1 April 1972.[2008] NZCA 362 CA 173/07 16 September 2008
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
1 December 2008
___________________________
Appeal allowed. Proceedings that were before the Court of Appeal referred back to High Court. Costs $15,000 to appellant, together with reasonable disbursements.
17 September 2009
1 December 2008
___________________________
Appeal allowed. Proceedings that were before the Court of Appeal referred back to High Court. Costs $15,000 to appellant, together with reasonable disbursements.
17 September 2009
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
sc 72 2008 p and b v crown healthfinancing agency (PDF, 12 KB)
Substantive judgment
Transcript
Case name
Geoffrey Martin Smith v The Queen
Case number
SC 73/2008
Summary
Criminal – application for leave to appeal against conviction – applicant convicted of offences against the Tax Administration Act 1994 – nature of intent required by s 143B(1)(f) of the Act – whether s 109 of the Act applies to evidence in a criminal trial – whether the trial Judge misdirected the jury in relation to PAYE, GST, and the impact of certain assessments before them. [2008] NZCA 371 CA 275/2008 17 September 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SMITH v R SC 73/2008 [12 December 2008] (PDF, 23 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
12 December 2008.
Case name
Xiao Qiong Huang and others v The Minister of Immigration and The Attorney-General
Case number
SC 74/2008
Summary
Civil – Immigration – whether when interpreting domestic law the Court of Appeal failed to take into account relevant considerations, such as international conventions on the Rights of the Child, on Civil and Political Rights and on the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – whether the Court of Appeal applied the incorrect test of judicial review to a human rights case – whether the Court of Appeal erred in applying the facts to the law under the Wednesbury test.[2008] NZCA 377 CA 262/06 19 September 2008
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Transcript
Dates
Application for leave to appeal granted
4 December 2008
Case name
Kay Skelton v The Queen
Case number
SC 75/2008
Summary
Pretrial – change of venue appllicationCriminal appeal – whether the Court of Appeal erred in the test it applied under ss 379A and 322 of the Crimes Act 1961 in determining, on appeal, whether there ought to be a change of venue of the applicant’s trial – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its conclusion on the risk of an unfair trial without a change of venue[2008] NZCA 382 CA 424/2008 22 September 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SKELTON v R SC 75/2008 [30 October 2008] (PDF, 12 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
30 October 2008
Case name
Igor Alexandrovich Mikitasov v Bernard John Collins
Case number
SC 76/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – extent of right of way for driveway to adjacent properties – whether respondent’s representations prior to the sale of 2 adjacent properties to the appellant included a representation that the right of way granted to one Lot could be used for access to the other– whether Court of Appeal had sufficient information to conclude that the respondent did not make such a representation – whether the uses of the two Lots owned by the appellant, the circumstances of their purchase and the convenience provided by the use of the right of way for both lots are sufficient to support a counterclaim for an interest in land – whether the principle in Wheeldon v Burrows (1879) 12 Ch D 31 of being ‘necessary for reasonable enjoyment’ applies– whether an injunction should have been granted in addition to a declaration – whether the respondent is estopped from strictly enforcing the terms of the right of way.[2008] NZCA 390 CA 211/2008 25 September 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MIKITASOV v COLLINS SC 76/2008 [4 February 2009] (PDF, 18 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
4 February 2009
Case name
RL and WL v The Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development and others.
Case number
SC 77/2008
Summary
Civil Appeal – Special Application to bypass Court of Appeal – Actual or apparent bias – Muir test – Whether High Court erred by failing to take into account international conventions – Whether Court acted unreasonably and failed to properly exercise its discretion.Civ 2007 404 7031 High Court Auckland 13 October 2008.
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Application for stay of judgment dimissed.
24 November 2008
Case name
Joseph Russell Rewiri v The Queen
Case number
SC 78/2008
Summary
Criminal – provocation – whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the application had no “special characteristic” relevant to provocation – whether the Court of Appeal applied the correct test for special characteristic.[2008] NZCA 355 CA 140/2008 8 September 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
REWIRI v R SC 78/2008 [5 December 2008] (PDF, 15 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal refused.
5 December 2008.
Case name
Alistair Maurk Stuart Lyon v The Queen.
Case number
SC 79/2008
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against sentence – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the non-custodial sentences imposed by the District Court on the appellant. [2008] NZCA 415 CA 305/2008 10 October 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
LYON v R SC 79/2008 [17 December 2008] (PDF, 15 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
17 December 2008
Case name
Diagnostic Medlab Limited v Auckland District Health Board and others
Case number
SC 80/2008
Summary
Civil appeal – judicial review – the Auckland region District Health Boards (ARDHBs) put out to tender the provision of its community laboratory services – the successful tenderer was Lab Tests Auckland Limited (Lab Tests) and the incumbent provider, Diagnostic Medlab Limited (DML), applied to the High Court for judicial review of the ARDHBs’ decision on the basis that the decision was procedurally flawed – the application was successful in the High Court and but an appeal to the Court of Appeal by Lab Tests was allowed – whether the Court of Appeal failed to interpret the provisions of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 (PHDA) as contemplating and requiring supplementing by principles of natural justice – whether the Court of Appeal applied a wrong and unduly restrictive approach to judicial review in the context of a contracting decision for an essential public health service – whether the Court of Appeal sanctioned a result which undermined the principles of natural justice, compromised the integrity of the relevant contracting process, and eroded public trust and confidence in decision-making by DHBs generally – whether the Court of Appeal failed to recognise that the PHDA contemplates a significant community voice in decisions affecting public health, including by way of meaningful consultation in accordance with expectations established by documents required by the PHDA – whether the Court of Appeal failed to apply any or an appropriate level of scrutiny to the DHBs’ decision on the grounds of unreasonableness – whether the Court of Appeal failed to pay any or proper respect to the High Court’s identification and evaluation of the relevant factual context, and that Court’s advantages as a primary fact-finder and adjudicator of mixed questions of law and fact. [2008] NZCA 385 CA 154/07 25 September 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
Costs $2,5000 to the first respondents (jointly) and $2,500 to the second respondent.
Case name
Eric Barry Stewart v The Queen
Case number
SC 81/2008
Summary
Criminal Appeal – fraudulent use of medical certificates on ACC forms appeal against conviction – motive to lie – whether the prosecutor’ s comments to the jury about the applicant’s motive to lie amounted to a miscarriage of justice – whether the trial judge should be required to correct these comments in summing up – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the prosecutor’s questioning of defence expert witness did not amount to a miscarriage of justice because the witness did not provide the applicant with a defence – whether this questioning was without foundation, an error of law and unfair [2008] NZCA 341 CA 231/07 2 September 2008
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted
5 February 2009
_________________________
Appeal allowed, convictions quashed. No order for retrial.
28 May 2009
5 February 2009
_________________________
Appeal allowed, convictions quashed. No order for retrial.
28 May 2009
Transcripts
- Hearing date 7 May 2009 (PDF, 180 KB)
Media Releases
- stewart v the queen media release (PDF, 87 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
STEWART v R SC 81/2008 [5 February 2009] (PDF, 12 KB)
Substantive judgment
STEWART v R SC 81/2008 [28 May 2009] (PDF, 56 KB)
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