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.
31 July 2026
Case information summary (as at 31 July 2026) – Cases where leave granted (PDF, 87 KB)
Case information summary (as at 31 July 2026) – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 131 KB)
All years
Case name
Mark Raymond Creedy v Commissioner of Police
Case number
SC 57/2007
Summary
Summary Civil appeal – employment law – police officer dismissed after a tribunal established under s 12 of the Police Act 1958 found him guilty of a number of misconduct charges – personal grievance proceedings commenced in Employment Relations Authority – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that unjustifiable dismissal claim was out of time – whether there are “exceptional circumstances” for the purposes of ss 114(4) and 115 of Employment Relations Act 2000 – application of Wilkins & Field Ltd v Fortune [1998] 2 ERNZ 70 – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that the actions of the s 12 tribunal could not be attributed to the Commissioner of Police and thus are not open to review in personal grievance proceedings.CA 234/06 24 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
19 October 2007
_________________________
Appeal dismissed. No order for costs.
23 April 2008
19 October 2007
_________________________
Appeal dismissed. No order for costs.
23 April 2008
Transcripts
- Hearing date 10 March 2008 (PDF, 311 KB)
Media Releases
- mediarelease sc572007 000 (PDF, 78 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
Court of Appeal decision
Supreme court decision
Case name
Glenharrow Holdings Limited v Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 59/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – avoidance of GST under section 76 of Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 – whether the High Court erred in its findings of fact relating to the value of the mining license purchased by the applicant - whether the High Court erred when it concluded that the purchase price for the mining license was grossly inflated – whether the evidence was such that only one conclusion was reasonably open to the Court – whether a substantial miscarriage of justice occurred as a result of incorrect findings of fact – whether, given the High Court finding that the transaction was a genuine arms length agreement, there was a basis for a finding under section 76 that the transaction defeated the scheme and purposes of the Act– whether an open market value should be used when determining GST obligations where a transaction is genuine and at arms length – whether the Court of Appeal erred by conflating the value of a loan used to purchase an asset with the consideration paid – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its approach to determining the total consideration – whether it was open to the Court of Appeal to make a finding that the loan repayments amounted to an ‘ empty obligation’ – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its application of Peterson v CIR [2006] 3 NZLR 433CA 192/05 15 August 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted. 4 October 2007
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment / Media release
Judgment appealed from
Transcript
Hearing date : 8 – 10 July 2008
Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath , Anderson JJ
Case name
Christopher Cliff Morris v The Queen
Case number
SC 61/2007
Summary
Criminal appeal – Crimes Act 1961, s 229A – using a tax document with intent to defraud – whether, under the Tax Administration Act 1994, employees of the Inland Revenue Department can give evidence in the prosecution – whether ss 81(1) and 81(3) of that Act preclude employees of the Inland Revenue Department giving evidence unless either the prosecution is initiated by the Commissioner of Inland Revenue for offences under the Inland Revenue Acts or the evidence falls within one of the exceptions listed in s 81(4) – whether the Court of Appeal was correct to direct a new trial under s 382 of the Crimes Act 1961 – application for leave to appeal out of time.CA 120/04 4 November 2004
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 30 October 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MORRIS v R SC 61/2007 [30 October 2007] (PDF, 18 KB)
Case name
Westpac Banking Corporation v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue and others
Case number
SC 66/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – disclosure of documents in tax avoidance litigation – Commissioner of Inland Revenue is challenging on grounds of sham and illegitimate tax avoidance several structured financing arrangements entered into by a number of banks – litigation is to proceed against each bank separately – whether, in litigation against each bank, the Commissioner can rely on documents associated with similar transactions entered into by other banks – whether such reliance is prevented by either s 81 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 or the application of public interest immunity. CA 280/06 [2007] NZCA 356 CA 280/0621 August 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
18 October 2007 ________________________ The appeals are dismissed with costs to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue of $25,000 together with reasonable disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar, and to be borne as to 40% each by Westpac and ANZ National and as to 20% by ASB Bank.
18 October 2007 ________________________ The appeals are dismissed with costs to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue of $25,000 together with reasonable disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar, and to be borne as to 40% each by Westpac and ANZ National and as to 20% by ASB Bank.
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment / Media release
Transcript
Judgment appealed from
Case name
ANZ National Bank Limited, UDC Finance Limited and Tui Endeavour Limited v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 67/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – disclosure of documents in tax avoidance litigation – Commissioner of Inland Revenue is challenging on grounds of sham and illegitimate tax avoidance several structured financing arrangements entered into by a number of banks – litigation is to proceed against each bank separately – whether, in litigation against each bank, the Commissioner can rely on documents associated with similar transactions entered into by other banks – whether such reliance is prevented by either s 81 of the Tax Administration Act 1994 or the application of public interest immunity. CA 280/06 [2007] NZCA 356 CA 280/06 21 August 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
18 October 2007
_________________________
The appeals are dismissed with costs to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue of $25,000 together with reasonable disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar, and to be borne as to 40% each by Westpac and ANZ National and as to 20% by ASB Bank.
14 April 2008
18 October 2007
_________________________
The appeals are dismissed with costs to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue of $25,000 together with reasonable disbursements, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar, and to be borne as to 40% each by Westpac and ANZ National and as to 20% by ASB Bank.
14 April 2008
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment / Media release
Judgment appealed from
Transcript
Case name
Jeffrey George Lopas and Lorraine Elizabeth McHerron v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 2/2006
Summary
Civil - tax - whether "the amount specified for the purposes of s 51(1)" in the Goods and Services Tax Act 1986, s 52(1) refers only to the monetary sum specified in s 51(1)(a) or to s 51(1) as a whole (including the exclusions in paras (c) and (d)) - whether the Commissioner of Inland Revenue can advance submissions contrary to propositions of law contained in the Commissioner's Statement of Position. CA 253/04 30 November 2005
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs to respondent $1,500.00.
2 August 2006
2 August 2006
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Gillian Moana Buchanan and Lynette Catherine Symes v Chief Executive of the Department of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 16/2006
Summary
Civil appeal – employees dismissed for breach of Inland Revenue Code of Conduct - Court of Appeal dismissed personal grievances and orders for reinstatement made in the Employment Relations Authority and upheld in the Employment Court - whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that ignorant non-compliance with Code does not give rise to presumption that actions do not constitute serious misconduct – whether the Court of Appeal erred in stating the test for disparity of treatment by including a third element that the dismissal must be justified notwithstanding the disparity for which there is no adequate explanation – whether the Court of Appeal’ s decision to determine whether there was disparity of treatment on the facts rather than refer the matter back to the Employment Court constituted a substantial miscarriage of justice. CA 2/05 22 December 2005
Result
Leave to Appeal dismissed, costs of $2,500 to respondent.
6 June 2006
6 June 2006
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Zentrum Holdings Limited and Ngahemi Properties Limited v The Commmisioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 44/2006
Summary
Civil – tax administration – in Taxation Review Authority (“TRA”) CIR argued unsuccessfully that Zentrum had benefited by a tax avoidance arrangement – on appeal to High Court CIR sought to argue that relevant transactions were shams – whether jurisdictional bar to raising sham argument for first time in High Court – whether it would have been open to CIR to employ sham argument in TRA – whether CIR v VH Farnsworth Ltd [1984] 1 NZLR 428 applies – whether sham argument is subject to time bar in Tax Administration Act 1994, s 108CA 215/05 23 May 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
19 September 2006
_________________________
Notice of abandonment being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.
4 April 2007
Leave judgment - leave granted
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Brent John Gilchrist v The Queen
Case number
SC 69/2006
Summary
Criminal – Tax Administration Act – tax evasion – applicant convicted of knowingly failing to provide Commissioner of Inland Revenue with information when required to do so pursuant to a notice to furnish information – standard of proof of delegation of authority from Commissioner – standard of intent to evade payment of tax.CA 29/06 18 August 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
29 September 2006
________________
Appeal dismissed.
15 December 2006
Transcript
Substantive judgment / Media release
Leave judgment - leave granted
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Jarod Peter Hester and others v The Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 2/2005
Summary
Civil appeal - whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the income of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints benefit and superanuation plan was not exempt from tax as the plan was not a trust for charitable purposes within the meaning of s CB4 (1)(c) of the Income Tax Act 2004 - whether the principles set out in Presbyterian Church Fund of New Zealand v The Commissioner for Inland Revenue [1994] 3 NZLR 363 should be applied to the plan of the Mormon church - application of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 and the Human Rights Act 1993 to the law of charities. CA 6/04 14 December 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $2,500 plus disbursements to the respondent.
3 May 2005
3 May 2005
Transcripts
- Hearing date 21 April 2005 (PDF, 127 KB)
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
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