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.
5 June 2026
Case information summary (as at 5 June 2026) – Cases where leave granted (PDF, 89 KB)
Case information summary (as at 5 June 2026) – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 124 KB)
All years
Case name
Attorney-General v Family First New Zealand
Case number
SC 79/2020
Summary
Civil Appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is granted (Family First New Zealand v Attorney General [2020] NZCA 366).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to allow the appeal.
18 December 2020
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A The appeal is allowed.
B The declaration made by the Court of Appeal that the respondent qualifies for registration under the Charities Act 2005 is set aside.
C There is no order as to costs.
28 June 2022
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to allow the appeal.
18 December 2020
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A The appeal is allowed.
B The declaration made by the Court of Appeal that the respondent qualifies for registration under the Charities Act 2005 is set aside.
C There is no order as to costs.
28 June 2022
Date of hearing
24 June 2021
- 25 June 2021
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, William Young, Glazebrook, O'Regan and Williams JJ
Transcripts
- Hearing date 24 June 2021 (PDF, 819 KB)
Case Synopses
- Hearing date 24 June 25 June 2021 (PDF, 428 KB)
Media Releases
- MR [2022] NZSC 80 (PDF, 320 KB)
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Case name
Robert John Herd and Rhumba Holdings Limited v Rodney David Haines Kathleen Anne Norman
Case number
SC 80/2020
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicants must pay the respondents costs of $2,500.
21 December 2020
B The applicants must pay the respondents costs of $2,500.
21 December 2020
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Michael John Denney v The Queen
Case number
SC 83/2020
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 9 June 2017 (Denney v R [2017] NZSC 85) is dismissed.
22 December 2020
22 December 2020
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Xiang Su v The Queen
Case number
SC 85/2020
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal is dismissed.
22 December 2020
22 December 2020
High Court decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
XIANG SU v R [2020] NZSC 156 [22 December 2020] (PDF, 49 KB)
Court of Appeal decision
Case name
Vincent Ross Siemer v Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of New Zealand
Case number
SC 101/2020
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for review of the decision of the Registrar to refuse to accept for filing a statement of claim seeking judicial review is dismissed.
B The application for directions is dismissed.
27 November 2020
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The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 27 November 2020 (Siemer v Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of New Zealand [2020] NZSC 135) is dismissed.
11 February 2021
B The application for directions is dismissed.
27 November 2020
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The application for recall of this Court’s judgment of 27 November 2020 (Siemer v Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of New Zealand [2020] NZSC 135) is dismissed.
11 February 2021
Supreme court decision
Recall judgment
Recall judgment
Case name
ESR Group (NZ) Limited v Ian James Burden, PGT-Reclaimed (International) Limited and Plantation Grown Timbers (Vietnam) Limited
Case number
SC 105/2020
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 three respondents one set of costs of $2,500.
11 March 2021
B The applicant must pay the three respondents one set of costs of $2,500.
11 March 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Ian James Burden, PGT-Reclaimed (International) Limited and Plantation Grown Timbers (Vietnam) Limited v ESR Group (NZ) Limited
Case number
SC 106/2020
Summary
Civil Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A Notice of Abandonment having been filed the application for leave to appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
8 April 2021
8 April 2021
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Videos
- SC 96/2023 Ian James Burden and Ors v ESR Group (NZ) Limited (Recorded, 26 April 2024)
Case name
Jesse Shane Kempson v The Queen
Case number
SC 111/2020
Summary
Criminal Appeal - application for leave to bring an appeal
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Additional document
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Brook Valley Community Group Incorporated v Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust, Minister for the Environment and Nelson City Council
Case number
SC 7/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Resource Management Act 1991, ss 13, 15 and 360(1)(h) – Whether the discharge of brodifacoum was unlawful – Whether the exempting regulations made under s 360(1)(h) of the Resource Management Act were unlawful – Whether the reduction in the costs award in the High Court was sufficient to reflect the public interest in the case – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the appeal.
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay costs of $4,500 to the respondents (to be divided equally among them, unless they agree otherwise) as well as the respondents’ usual disbursements.
21 May 2019
B The applicant must pay costs of $4,500 to the respondents (to be divided equally among them, unless they agree otherwise) as well as the respondents’ usual disbursements.
21 May 2019
Transcripts
- Hearing date 2 May 2019 (PDF, 113 KB)
High Court decision
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
AN(SC 22/2019) v Prime Minister
Case number
SC 22/2019
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the High Court erred in rejecting the applicant’ s application for a writ of habeas corpus.
Result
The application for an extension of time to file an application fort leave to appeal is dismissed.
11 March 2019
11 March 2019
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
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