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.

22 May 2026

Case information summary (as at 22 May 2026) –  Cases where leave granted (PDF, 90 KB)
Case information summary (as at 22 May 2026)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 126 KB) 

2019

Case name
Minister of Justice of New Zealand and Attorney General of New Zealand v Kyung Yup Kim
Case number
SC 57/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in quashing and remitting the Minister of Justice’s decision to surrender the respondent for extradition to the People’s Republic of China – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in deciding there is a preliminary question of whether diplomatic assurances as to criminal justice rights should be accepted given the general human rights situation in a receiving state – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in setting the legal test to determine whether the respondent’ s fair trial rights would be upheld.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision is granted (Kim v Minister of Justice of New Zealand [2019] NZCA 209). The respondent’s application for leave to cross-appeal is also granted.
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to quash and remit the Minister of Justice’ s decision to surrender the respondent under s 30 of the Extradition Act 1999.
20 September 2019
_______________________
A The appeal is adjourned until 30 July 2021.
B A report is to be filed by the parties on or before 30 July 2021 outlining the matters set out at [443], [455]–[457] and [463].
C The cross-appeal is dismissed.
4 June 2021
____________________________________
A The application for leave to adduce the expert reports annexed to the parties’ joint report dated 3 December 2021 is granted.
B The appeal is allowed. The decision of the Court of Appeal is set aside.
C The Minister of Justice’s decision of 19 September 2016 to surrender the respondent under s 30 of the Extradition Act 1999 is reinstated.
D Costs are reserved.
13 April 2022
Date of hearing
04 February 2022
Judges
Glazebrook, O'Regan, Ellen France, Arnold and French JJ
Transcripts
Case Synopses
Media Releases
High Court decision
KIM v THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE [2016] NZHC 1490 [1 July 2016]
High Court decision
KIM v THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE [2017] NZHC 2109 [31 August 2017]
Court of Appeal decision
KIM v MINISTER OF JUSTICE OF NEW ZEALAND [2019] NZCA 209 [11 June 2019]
Leave judgment - leave granted
Minister of Justice and Attorney General v Kyung Yup Kim [2019] NZSC 100 20 September 2019 (PDF, 32 KB)
Supreme Court - order made
MINISTER OF JUSTICE v KYUNG YUP KIM [2019] NZSC 142 [10 December 2019] (PDF, 35 KB)
Supreme Court - order made
MINISTER OF JUSTICE v KYUNG YUP KIM [2020] NZSC 18 [12 March 2020] (PDF, 117 KB)
Additional document
MINISTER OF JUSTICE v KYUNG YUP KIM [2021] NZSC 57 [4 June 2021] (PDF, 970 KB)
Substantive judgment
MINISTER OF JUSTICE v KYUNG YUP KIM [2022] NZSC 44 [13 April 2022] (PDF, 367 KB)