Supreme Court

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is New Zealand’s final court of appeal. It deals with criminal and civil appeals from the lower courts. The Supreme Court must first grant leave before an appeal can begin.

Overall, the number of applications for leave to appeal [1] has increased from 166 in 2014 to 179 in 2015.

In the 2015 calendar year:

• 25 new appeals were filed, (down from 42 in the previous 12 months)

• 27 separate judgments disposed 29 appeals with two appeals abandoned (compared to the previous 12 months where 26 separate judgments disposed 27 appeals, with one appeal abandoned).

As at 31 December 2015 there were 21 active appeals (awaiting hearing or judgment) compared with 24 active as at 31 December 2014.

Statistics