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) 

All years

Case name
Maritime New Zealand v Survey Nelson Limited
Case number
SC 14/2011
Summary
Judicial Review – Decision to approve Safe Ship Management Company – Maritime Transport Act 1995 – Maritime Rules – Error of Law – Whether Court of Appeal correct, after finding error of law, to reverse High Court position and grant relief to Survey Nelson Ltd ­– Whether Court of Appeal possessed jurisdiction to reinstate approval where this effectively required the issue of a new approval[2010] NZCA 629   CA 245/2010  21 December 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MARITIME NEW ZEALAND v SURVEY NELSON LIMITED SC 14/2011 [2 June 2011] (PDF, 71 KB)
Dates

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

The applicant is to pay the respondent costs in the sum of $2,500 plus disbursements and other necessary payments, to be fixed if necessary by the Registrar. 

2 June 2011.
Case name
Allan Brian Miller and Michael John Carroll v The New Zealand Parole Board and The Attorney-General
Case number
SC 15/2011
Summary
Civil – Judicial Bias – Whether the Court of Appeal bench was properly selected – Whether the Court of Appeal applied the correct test for judicial bias – Whether the Parole Board was independent – Whether the appellant Carroll was properly recalled from parole – Whether preventive detention is consistent with the rehabilitation purpose of art 10(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.[2010] NZCA 600  CA 67/2009  8 December 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MILLER v THE NEW ZEALAND PAROLE BOARD SC 15/2011 [23 March 2011] (PDF, 12 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

23 March 2011.
Case name
Kerry John Williams v The Queen
Case number
SC 18/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Right to a fair trial – New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, ss 24, 25; Sentencing Act 2002, s 30 – Applicant convicted by jury on charges of conspiracy to supply methamphetamine, supply and manufacture of methamphetamine – Applicant lost legal representation during the course of the trial – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the applicant’s right to a fair trial was not impaired, as a result of the trial continuing shortly after counsel for the applicant withdrew CA 137/04  19 May 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
WILLIAMS v R SC 18/2011 [9 June 2011] (PDF, 12 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

9 June 2011.
Case name
Shirleen Shia Ling Sim v Moncrieff Pastoral Limited
Case number
SC 19/2011
Summary
Civil – Deemed abandonment – Whether Court of Appeal correct to decline application for order granting extension of time to appeal as well as making associated orders – whether leave ought to be granted to adduce new evidence. [2011] NZCA 21   CA 706/2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SIM v MONCRIEFF PASTORAL LIMITED SC 19/2011 [9 May 2011] (PDF, 45 KB)
Dates

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

The applicant is to pay the respondent costs in the sum of $2,500.

9 May 2011.
Case name
Lynette Kaye Stewart v The Queen
Case number
SC 28/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Sexual Offences – Party Liability – Applicant convicted as party to sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection – Court of Appeal allowed new medical evidence in principal offender’ s appeal and quashed principal offender’s conviction ordering re-trial – Whether quashing of principal offender’s conviction renders applicant’ s conviction unsafe.CA 515/2005
Result
Appeal allowed. Conviction quashed.  No order for new trial. 2 June 2011.
Leave judgment - leave granted
STEWART v R SC 28/2011 [12 May 2011] (PDF, 7 KB)
Substantive judgment
STEWART v R SC 28/2011 [2 June 2011 (PDF, 56 KB)
Hearing

2 June 2011

Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath, William Young JJ.
Dates

A  The application for leave to appeal is granted.

B  The approved ground is whether the conviction can stand in light of the quashing of the conviction of the person with whom the appellant was jointly charged and her discharge under s 347 of the Crimes Act 1961.

12 May 2011
Case name
Kay Halton Skelton v The Queen
Case number
SC 29/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Sentence – Whether Court of Appeal erred in dismissing sentence appeal – Whether rights of children of mothers in custody; effects of imprisonment on a pregnant woman/mother of a young child; and totality principle properly considered – New Zealand’ s obligations under United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.[2011] NZCA 35  CA 663/2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SKELTON v R SC 29/2011 [27 June 2011] (PDF, 11 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

27 June 2011.
Case name
Open Country Cheese Company Limited v New Zealand Dairy Workers Union Incorporated
Case number
SC 33/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Employment Relations Act 2000 – Applicant’ s parent company sent own employees to operate applicant’s cheese and milk powder plant during lawful strike by members of respondent union employed at plant – Whether parent company employees “employed or engaged” by applicant in breach of s 97(2) of Employment Relations Act.[2011] NZCA 56  CA 687/2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
sc 33 2011 open country cheese co ltd v nz dairy workers union incorp leave judgment (PDF, 45 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed with costs of $2,500 to the respondent.

2 June 2011.
Case name
Maritime New Zealand v Survey Nelson Limited
Case number
SC 45/2011
Summary
Judicial Review – Direct appeal from High Court decision – Whether Court of Appeal decision which High Court interpreted correct (see SC 14/2011) – Accordingly, whether High Court decision correct – Whether failure to grant leave would result in substantial miscarriage of justice.   Civ  2011 485 391
Dates

Notice of abandonment being lodged, the application for leave to appeal is deemed to be dismissed.

8 June 2011.
Hearing
29 November 2011.
Elias CJ, Blanchard, McGrath, William Young, Gault JJ.
Decision reserved.
Case name
Shane Andrew Ellis v The Queen
Case number
SC 53/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Juries Act 1981 – Applicant convicted in High Court at Wellington by jury trial on three counts of importing methamphetamine – Jury selected in accordance with Juries Act – Whether trial was unfair as jury unrepresentative of population, in particular New Zealand’ s rural population, and did not constitute trial by applicant’s peers.[2011] NZCA 90 CA 739/2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
ELLIS v R SC 53/2011 [2 June 2011] (PDF, 55 KB)
Dates

Application for leave to appeal dismissed.

2 June 2011.
Case name
Sovereign Assurance Company Limited v Douglas Norman Scott
Case number
SC 69/2011
Summary
Civil – Insurance – Appeal against Court of Appeal decision holding High Court incorrect to strike out respondent’s proceeding – Whether proceeding out of time – Limitation Act 1950 – Whether Court of Appeal correct in finding it arguable that respondent’s cause of action accrued on or after 28 September 2000 – Distinction between occurrence of insured event and proof of insured event – Whether English authority on limitation and application of limitation statutes to insurance policies relevant in the context of contingency insurance policies for a fixed benefit payable under a critical illness policy in New Zealand – Relevance of respondent’s eventual cancellation of policy – Consistency of Court of Appeal’s decision with principles in Trustees Executors Ltd v Murray [2007] NZSC 27, [2007] 3 NZLR 721. [2011] NZCA 214   CA 452/2010
Dates

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

The applicant is to pay the respondent costs in the sum of $2,500.

22 September 2011
Page 36 of 55