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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
Lynda Jean Whyman v Public Trust
Case number
SC 4/2005
Summary
Civil appeal - Property (Relationships) Act - appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal allowing an appeal against the High Court's decision granting letters of administration to the respondent - interpretation of s 88(2) allowing the Court to grant leave only if it is satisfied that refusing leave would cause serious injustice - whether the choice of option B under s 61, under which the surviving spouse or de facto partner chooses not to make an application under the Act, means that there would be no jurisdiction for the Court to grant leave under s 88(2) to the administrator of the deceased's estate to entertain an application under s 25 for an order concerning the division of relationship property. CA 76/04 17 December 2004
Judgment appealed from

PUBLIC TRUST V WHYMAN CA CA76/04 17 December 2004

Result

Leave to appeal granted.
23 March 2005

___________________________

Notice of abandonment being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
Case name
Abhirama Sundari Sivasubramanium v Tony Harry Yarrall
Case number
SC 5/2005
Summary
Accident Compensation - whether the death of foetus in utero amountsto a personal injury suffered by the mother for the purpose of theInjury Prevention Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2001 - whether there are exceptional circumstance justifying taking the appeal directly to the Supreme Court in terms of s14 of the Supreme Court Act2003. CIV 2004040485-464 21 December 2004
Result
Notice of abandonment being lodged, the application is deemed to be dismissed. 10 June 2005
Case name
Allan Kendrick Dean v The Queen
Case number
SC 6/2005
Summary
Criminal Appeal - whether sentence of preventive detention should have been imposed - whether there has been unlawful appellate delay or breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 - whether a substantial miscarriage of justice has resulted. CA 172/03 17 December 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed.
11 April 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
R V  DEAN SC 6/2005 [11 April 2005] (PDF, 15 KB)
Judgment appealed from
DEAN v R [2004] NZCA 322 (17 December 2004)
Case name
Bernard John Pavitt v The Queen
Case number
SC 7/2005
Summary
Criminal appeal against conviction for aggravated robbery - whether colour of right - whether evidence inadmissable as unfairly obtained - burden of proof - whether misdirection by trial judge in telling jury that two others involved in the offending had also been charged. CA 257/04 21 October 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused.
10 May 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
PAVITT V R SC  7/2005 [10 May 2005] (PDF, 15 KB)
Case name
Roger John Payne v Jeanette Rosslyn Payne
Case number
SC 8/2005
Summary
Matrimonial property division - order for sale of property to enforce earlier High Court orders for payments by the appellant to the respondent - appeal from decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing an application for a stay of orders for the sale of the appellant's house - whether payment by the appellant in the amount of the value of a half share in the marital home entitles the appellant to the immediate transfer to him of that interest - whether the Court should exercise its residual power to reopen the appellant's litigation. CA 257/04 21 October 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused.
The stay order made by this Court on 11 March 2005 is set aside.
18 March 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Roger John Payne V Jeanette Rosslyn Payne SC SC 8/2005 [18 March 2005] (PDF, 15 KB)
Case name
Lesley Jane Martin
Case number
SC 9/2005
Summary
Appeal against conviction for attempted murder - whether the Court of Appeal's application of the proviso in s385(1) Crimes Act 1961 was erroneous in law or in fact - whether breach of the right to fair trial, as guaranteed by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, is so fundamental a breach that it will ipso facto give rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice. CA 257/04 21 October 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused.
15 June 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MARTIN V R SC SC 9/2005 [15 June 2005] (PDF, 23 KB)
Transcript
Hearing date : 10 June 2005
Judgment appealed from
MARTIN v R [2005] NZCA 3 (14 February 2005)
Case name
Fa'afete Taito v The Queen
Case number
SC 10/2005
Summary
Appeal against conviction for aggravated robbery - whether the absence of a transcript of the Judge's summing up; alleged counsel incompetence; the size of the jury panel, and the manner in which the jury was empanelled give rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice - whether the approach to the question of undue delay was erroneous in law. CA 257/04 21 October 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed.
17 June 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TAITO V R SC 10/2005 [17 June 2005] (PDF, 16 KB)
Judgment appealed from
The Queen v Taito [2005] NZCA 22 (1 March 2005)
Case name
James Alfred Hood, Robert George Hood, Kenneth John Hood v The Attorney-General and The Queenstown Lakes District Council
Case number
SC 11/2005
Summary
Civil appeal - land compulsorily acquired for public works no longer required - whether unreasonable or unfair to offer land back under s 40(2) Public Works Act 1981 - decision made by Minister other than the Minister empowered by statute - whether decision validated by s 25(e) Acts Interpretation Act 1924. CA 257/04 21 October 2004
Result
Leave to appeal declined. Costs to respondents $2,500 together with disbursements as settled by the Registrar.
5 August 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
HOOD And Ors V THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL  And QUEENSTOWN LAKES DISTRICT COUNCIL SC 11/2005 [5 August 2005] (PDF, 21 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Hood & Ors v The Attorney General & Anor [2005] NZCA 25 (2 March 2005)
Transcript
Hearing date : 21 July 2005
Case name
Basil Steven Marshall Mist v The Queen
Case number
SC 12/2005
Summary
Criminal appeal - appeal against decision of the Court of Appeal imposing a sentence of preventive detention - whether Court erred in its interpretation of s 4(2) of the Criminal Justice Act 1985 as dealing only with the situation where a new sentencing option became available between the time of the commission of the offence and the time of sentencing. CA 480/03 25 February 2005
Result
Leave to appeal granted.

31 May 2005

_________________________

Appeal allowed.
Sentence of preventive detention quashed. Sentence imposed in the High Court reinstated but without prejudice to the Solicitor-General's submission that, in total, the finite sentences are manifestly inadequate. The question whether that is so is remitted to the Court of Appeal for determination.
1 December 2005

Leave judgment - leave granted
MIST V R SC 12/2005 [31 May 2005]
Substantive judgment
MIST V R SC 12/2005 [1 December 2005]
Transcription
Hearing date : 9 August 2005
Case name
Kenneth Christopher Morgan v The Superintendent, Rimutaka Prison
Case number
SC 13/2005
Summary
Habeas Corpus - whether the Parole Act 2002 applies on its terms to a person convicted prior to its enactment, but sentenced after its enactment - meaning of "penalty" in terms of s6 Sentencing Act 2002. CA 17/05 7 March 2005
Result
Leave to appeal granted. Appeal dismissed.
19 May 2005
Judgment appealed from

K C MORGAN V THE SUPERINTENDENT, RIMUTAKA PRISON CA CA17/05 7 March 2005
Substantive judgment
MORGAN V THE SUPERINTENDENT, RIMUTAKA PRISON SC 13/2005 [19 May 2005]
Transcript
Hearing date : 14 April 2005
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