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 September 2026

Case information summary (as at 18 September 2026) –  Cases where leave granted (PDF, 112 KB)
Case information summary (as at 18 September 2026)  – Currently unavailable

All years

Case name
Te Runanga O Muriwhenua v Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission; The Attorney-General of New Zealand; The Minister of Fisheries; Te Kotahitanga O Te Arawa Fisheries Trust and Te Runanaga O Ngai Tahu
Case number
SC CIV 8/2004
Summary
Judicial review - allocation of assets provided in settlement of Maori commercial fishing claims - whether the final allocation model proposed by the Commission in its final report He Kawai Amokaura is unreasonable - whether the allocation model should have taken into account alleged inequities deriving from the way quota was managed by the Commission from 1990 onwards - whether the consultation undertaken by the Commission leading up to its final report on this issue was sufficient. CA 73/04 30 June 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. 23 September 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TE RUNANGA O MURIWHENUA INCORPORATED V TREATY OF WAITANGI FISHERIESCOMMISSION And Anor SC SC CIV 8/04 [23 September 2004] (PDF, 17 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Whata-Wickliffe v Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission [2004] NZCA 113
Case name
Lionel William Burt v Liu Sheung Wong.
Case number
SC CIV 10/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - lawfulness of discretionary distributions of capital by trustees of an estate to life tenant - life tenant lent capital to eventual beneficiaries of residuary estate - whether discretionary distribution amounted to a fraud upon a power - whether trustees protected from personal liability by an exoneration clause or s73 Trustee Act 1956 - meaning of "honesty" in the context of an exoneration clause or s73 Trustee Act 1956. CA100/03 4 August 2004
Dates
Notice of abandonment of appeal being lodged, the appeal is deemed to be dismissed.

3 February 2005
Case name
Latimer Holdings Ltd and John William Powell v Sea Holdings New Zealand Ltd.
Case number
SC CIV 16/2004
Summary
Civil appeal - appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing an appeal from the interlocutory decision of the High Court entering summary judgment in favour of the respondent - whether detriment suffered by the applicant was within the category of unfair detriment in s174 Companies Act. CA 214/03 15 September 2004
Result
Leave to appeal dismissed. Costs to respondent $1000 and disbursements. 24 November 2004
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
LATIMER HOLDINGS LIMITED & ANOR V SEA HOLDINGS NEW ZEALAND LIMITED SC SC CIV 16/2004 [24 November 2004] (PDF, 14 KB)
Judgment appealed from
NZLII : Latimer Holdings Ltd v Sea Holdings New Zealand Ltd [2004] NZCA 226 (15 September 2004
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