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.

19 June 2026

Case information summary (as at 19 June 2026) – Cases where leave granted (PDF, 89 KB)
Case information summary (as at 19 June 2026) – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 126 KB)

2023

Case name

Solicitor-General's Reference (No 1 of 2023) from CA636/2021 ([2022] NZCA 504)

Case number

SC 12/2023

Summary

Solicitor-General's Reference

Result

A We grant leave to the Solicitor-General to refer the following question of law (arising from Darling v R [2022] NZCA 504) to this Court under s 317 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011: On the facts as set out in the Court of Appeal decision and the relevant documents on which guilty pleas were entered, did Mr Anderson’s acquittal mean that Mr Darling could not, in law, have been convicted of the offence with which he was charged, despite his guilty plea?

B We appoint Ms Guy Kidd KC as counsel to assist the Court under s 318(3)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act.
6 April 2023
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The question of law (arising from Darling v R [2022] NZCA 504) referred to this Court being whether Mr Anderson’s acquittal meant that Mr Darling could not, in law, have been convicted of the offence with which he was charged, despite his guilty plea, is answered “No”.
17 November 2023

Date of hearing

16 August 2023

Judges

Winkelmann CJ, O’Regan, Ellen France, Williams and Kós JJ; Venue: Auckland Environment Court, Courtroom 2, 41 Federal Street, Auckland

Submissions from counsel