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
Aqua Technics Pool and Spa Centre New Zealand Limited v Aqua-Tech Limited
Case number
SC 24/2007
Summary
Civil – proprietorship of trade mark – Trademarks Act 1953 – Assistant Commissioner of Trade Marks declined to register “Aqua-Tech” as a trademark in relation to spa and swimming pools – decision overturned by High Court and Court of Appeal – whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the High Court’s finding that Aqua-Tech had established public use of the trademark. CA 257/05 22 March 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed with Costs of $2,500 to the respondent.
9 July 2007
9 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Kem Raju Samy v The Queen
Case number
SC 32/2007
Summary
Criminal appeal – Appeal against conviction - whether the Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant’s appeal without allowing him to be properly heard – whether the appellant should have been permitted to return to New Zealand for the Court of Appeal hearing of his appeal against conviction - whether an adjournment should have been given to allow the appellant to be located and cross-examined via video-conference. CA 123/05 23 April 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SAMY v R SC 32/2007 [5 December 2007] (PDF, 19 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Joseph Ronald Belcher v The Chief Executive of the Department of Corrections
Case number
SC 33/2007
Summary
Criminal – sexual offending – appeal against sentence – applicant first sentenced in 1996 – Extended Supervision Order (ESO) imposed in 2005 – whether applicant received a fair hearing by an independent tribunal – whether imposition of ESO was unlawful, arbitrary and manifestly excessive – whether process by which ESO was imposed was flawed in relation to admissibility and treatment of evidence or otherwise – whether Court of Appeal erred in holding it had no jurisdiction to make a declaration of inconsistency of the Parole (Extended Supervision) Amendment Act 2004 with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.CA 185/05 3 May 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
16 July 2007
16 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
KMA v Secretary for Justice
Case number
SC 42/2007
Summary
Civil Appeal – Hague Convention – leap frog appeal against a High Court decision following a Court of Appeal decision refusing leave – whether the High Court erred by upholding a Family Court’s decision ordering two of the applicant’s children be returned to Australia under the Hague Convention – whether the High Court erred by refusing to consider a submission that the respondent acquiesced by taking no steps in relation to the application for four and a half months - application for stay of execution – application to adduce new evidence regarding the financial position of the parties and allegations that the respondent sexually abused another childCA 159/07 5 June 2007; CIv 2006 409 2482 16 March 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
Costs reserved.
20 July 2007
______________________
Judgment of the Court on costs issued.
29 August 2007
Costs reserved.
20 July 2007
______________________
Judgment of the Court on costs issued.
29 August 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Additional document
Case name
Robert Frank Terry v The Queen
Case number
SC 45/2007
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction and sentence – whether Court of Appeal erred in dismissing appeal – whether Court of Appeal failed to uphold the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 – whether a substantial miscarriage of justice may have occurred.CA 378/06 26 June 2007
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed.
31 August 2007
31 August 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TERRY v R SC 45/2007 [31 August 2007] (PDF, 15 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Tumu Te Heuheu v Attorney – General and others
Case number
SC 49/2007
Summary
Civil – Treaty of Waitangi – Crown Forest Assets Act 1989 – Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa Settlement Deed, Part 12 – Settlement Deed aimed to settle historical breaches of Treaty in respect of 11 iwi or hapu affiliated with Te Arawa – Settlement Deed would be made unconditional by proposed legislation – Applicants sought declaration that Settlement Deed was in breach of Crown Forest Assets Act 1989, the agreements predating that Act, and the Crown’s fiduciary duties under the Treaty – High Court and Court of Appeal dismissed the claims. Whether the issues are justiciable – whether the agreement predating the 1989 Act (“the July 1989 Agreement” ) was a political compact and therefore unenforceable – whether Crown conduct is or was inconsistent with the July 1989 Agreement – the nature of the Crown’s fiduciary duty to Mäori under the Treaty and the July 1989 Agreement. CA 241/07; CA 247/07 2 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave granted
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
8 November 2007
______________________
Appeal withdrawn. No orders as to costs.
4 November 2008
Judgment appealed from
Case name
NZ Maori Council and The Federation of Maori Authorities Inc v Attorney-General and others
Case number
SC 50/2007
Summary
Civil – Treaty of Waitangi – Crown Forest Assets Act 1989 – Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa Settlement Deed, Part 12 – Settlement Deed aimed to settle historical breaches of Treaty in respect of 11 iwi or hapu affiliated with Te Arawa – Settlement Deed would be made unconditional by proposed legislation – Applicants sought declaration that Settlement Deed was in breach of Crown Forest Assets Act 1989, the agreements predating that Act, and the Crown’s fiduciary duties under the Treaty – High Court and Court of Appeal dismissed the claims. Whether the issues are justiciable – whether the agreement predating the 1989 Act (“the July 1989 Agreement” ) was a political compact and therefore unenforceable – whether Crown conduct is or was inconsistent with the July 1989 Agreement – the nature of the Crown’s fiduciary duty to Mäori under the Treaty and the July 1989 Agreement. CA 241/07; CA 247/07 2 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave granted
Judgment appealed from
Grant to intervene
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
8 November 2007
__________________
Appeal withdrawn. No orders as to costs.
4 November 2008
Case name
Alex Kwong Wong v The Queen
Case number
SC 53/2007
Summary
Summary Criminal – appeal against convictions – serious drug offending – whether trial should have proceeded with ten jurors – consistency of guilty verdicts with acquittal of the accused on other counts and acquittal of co-accused – whether Court of Appeal correctly applied R v H [2000] 2 NZLR 581 – whether verdict in relation to one (money laundering) count is unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to the evidence – applicant seeking leave to raise various other new grounds as evidencing a substantial miscarriage of justice at trial.CA 329/06 6 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted.
24 September 2007
________________________
Appeal allowed, convictions set aside. New trial ordered.
18 April 2008
24 September 2007
________________________
Appeal allowed, convictions set aside. New trial ordered.
18 April 2008
Substantive judgment
ALEX KWONG WONG v R SC 53/2007 [18 April 2008] (PDF, 26 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Application for rehearing or addition of new ground of appeal
Substantive judgment
Transcript
Case name
Transpower New Zealand Limited v Todd Energy Limited
Case number
SC 55/2007
Summary
Civil Appeal – whether summary judgment should have been issued for the defendant – whether some or all of the actions against the applicant should be struck out – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that section 19 of the Electricity Amendment Act 2001 did not amount to an authorisation under section 43 of the Commerce Act 1986 – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that long term infrastructure substitution between embedded generation and transmission is arguably contemplated by the Commerce Act 1986 definition of “market” – whether the respondent’s claim is a complaint that the applicant charges too much – whether such a complaint is capable of amounting to a breach of Part 2 of the Commerce Act 1986 – whether the Court of Appeal applied a more demanding standard for summary judgment – whether the Court of Appeal erred by finding that the respondent can choose between local and national electricity markets when presenting its case at trial – whether the Court of Appeal erred by allowing the argument that the respondent’s local electricity generation competes with the applicant’s transmission services to go to trial when that argument was struck out in another case – whether a claim that the applicant’ s “tying” or ”unbundling” of services has the purpose or likely effect of substantially lessening competition should go to trial where the services were not able to be tied or bundled and the claim is in substance a claim about overcharging. CA 80/05 and CA 177/06 20 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal and cross appeal dismissed. 13 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Neil Martin Clarke v New Zealand Police and Others
Case number
SC 58/2007
Summary
y Civil – application to review Registrar’s decision to refuse to accept application for filing – applicant had sought leave to appeal Court of Appeal’s decision that it had no jurisdiction to grant special leave to appeal against a costs decision of an Associate Judge of the High Court – applicant seeking to overturn costs decision in the Court of Appeal.[2007] NZCA 294 CA 226/06 17 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs of $1,500 to the second respondent. 9 October 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
Page 48 of 55