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
Isabella Niki-Harper Ahlawat v The King
Case number
SC 136/2022
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
5 April 2023
5 April 2023
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
W v The King
Case number
SC 137/2022
Summary
Order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final disposition of trial. Publication in law report or law digest permitted.
Result
Order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final disposition of trial. Publication in law report or law digest permitted.
1 March 2023
1 March 2023
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Case name
Phillip John Smith v Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections
Case number
SC 1/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
21 April 2021
B There is no order as to costs.
21 April 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Douglas Roy Andrews v The Queen
Case number
SC 2/2021
Summary
Criminal Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed
7 April 2021
7 April 2021
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Qiufen Lu and Liansen Mao v Industrial and Commerical Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited and Qian Hou
Case number
SC 3/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The applications for leave to appeal are dismissed.
B The applicants must pay the first respondent costs of $2,500.
15 April 2021
B The applicants must pay the first respondent costs of $2,500.
15 April 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Jeremy James McGuire v Secretary for Justice
Case number
SC 4/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay the respondent costs of $2,500.
18 March 2021
B The applicant must pay the respondent costs of $2,500.
18 March 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Donglin Deng v Lu Zheng
Case number
SC 5/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted (Zheng v Deng [2020] NZCA 614).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to make a declaration that there was a partnership between Mr Zheng and Mr Deng in which they were equal partners and to make orders that were consequential on that finding.
14 May 2021
_________________________________________________________________________
A The appeal is dismissed.
B Mr Deng must pay Mr Zheng costs of $25,000 plus usual disbursements (including travelling expenses for two counsel), to be fixed by the Registrar if necessary.
20 June 2022
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to make a declaration that there was a partnership between Mr Zheng and Mr Deng in which they were equal partners and to make orders that were consequential on that finding.
14 May 2021
_________________________________________________________________________
A The appeal is dismissed.
B Mr Deng must pay Mr Zheng costs of $25,000 plus usual disbursements (including travelling expenses for two counsel), to be fixed by the Registrar if necessary.
20 June 2022
Date of hearing
17 August 2021
Judges
William Young, Glazebrook, O’Regan, Ellen France and Williams JJ
Transcripts
- Hearing date 17 August 2021 (PDF, 553 KB)
Media Releases
- MR 2022 NZSC 76 (PDF, 334 KB)
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave granted
DONGLIN DENG v LU ZHENG [2021] NZSC 43 [14 May 2021] (PDF, 200 KB)
Substantive judgment
DONGLIN DENG v LU ZHENG [2022] NZSC 76 [20 June 2022] (PDF, 503 KB)
Case name
Eric Meserve Houghton v Timothy Ernest Corbett Saunders And Ors
Case number
SC 6/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay costs of $2,500 to the first respondents collectively and a total of $2,500 to the second and third respondents.
6 May 2021
____________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 6 May 2021 (Houghton v Saunders [2021] NZSC 38) is dismissed.
B The application for leave to file a second application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
C The application for a stay of the respondents’ application for costs in the High Court is dismissed.
D Costs are reserved.
2 July 2021
____________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s recall judgment of 2 July 2021 (Houghton v Saunders [2021] NZSC 76) is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
28 July 2021
B The applicant must pay costs of $2,500 to the first respondents collectively and a total of $2,500 to the second and third respondents.
6 May 2021
____________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 6 May 2021 (Houghton v Saunders [2021] NZSC 38) is dismissed.
B The application for leave to file a second application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
C The application for a stay of the respondents’ application for costs in the High Court is dismissed.
D Costs are reserved.
2 July 2021
____________________________________________
A The application for recall of this Court’s recall judgment of 2 July 2021 (Houghton v Saunders [2021] NZSC 76) is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
28 July 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Recall judgment
Recall judgment
HOUGHTON v SAUNDERS & ORS [2021] NZSC 92 [28 July 2021] (PDF, 174 KB)
Supreme court decision
Case name
Rajendra Prasad v Indiana Publications (NZ) Limited, Irene Lal, Venkat Ram, Mahesh Parera and Chenchu Nagulu
Case number
SC 7/2021
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B There is no order as to costs.
16 February 2021
B There is no order as to costs.
16 February 2021
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
A v The Queen
Case number
SC 8/2021
Summary
Criminal Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B We make an order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final disposition of retrial. Publication in law report or law digest is permitted.
3 June 2021
B We make an order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final disposition of retrial. Publication in law report or law digest is permitted.
3 June 2021
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Page 41 of 250