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.

28 November 2025

Case information summary 2025 (as at 28 November 2025) –  Cases where leave granted (PDF, 87 KB)
Case information summary 2025 (as at 28 November 2025)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 120 KB)

All years

Case name
Jianzhong Cheng v The King
Case number
SC 126/2024
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
03 April 2025
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
[2024] NZCA 598
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
CHENG v R [2025] NZSC 26 [3 April 2025] (PDF, 162 KB)
Case name
NZME Publishing Limited v Brenton Harrison Tarrant, The King and Lawyers A and B
Case number
SC 128/2024
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B Order prohibiting search of the files for this application without leave of a Judge of this Court.
11 April 2025
High Court decision
R v TARRANT [2020] NZHC 2192 [27 August 2020]
Court of Appeal decision
TARRANT v R [2024] NZCA 579 [13 November 2024]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
NZME PUBLISHING LIMITED v TARRANT [2025] NZSC 36 [11 April 2025] (PDF, 160 KB)
Case name
G (SC 130/2024) v The King
Case number
SC 130/2024
Summary

Criminal Appeal
Result

A Leave to appeal is granted ([2024] NZCA 626).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to dismiss the appeal against sentence.
04 April 2025
Date of hearing
22 July 2025
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, Williams, Kós and Miller JJ
Case Synopses
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
[2024] NZCA 626
Supreme Court - order made
Suppression application - G (SC 130/2024) v R [2025] NZSC 80 [11 July 2025] (PDF, 117 KB)
Case name
J (SC 135/2024) v The King
Case number
SC 135/2024
Summary

Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring appeal
Result

The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.                                                            
20 May 2025
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
J (SC 135/2024) v R [2025] NZSC 55 [20 May 2025] (PDF, 167 KB)
Case name
Matthew Nigel John Wilcox v The King
Case number
SC 138/2024
Summary

Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result

A notice of abandonment having been filed, the application for leave to appeal is abandoned                     
23 June 2025
District Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
[2024] NZCA 555
Case name
Garath Richard Collings v The King
Case number
SC 4/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
14 June 2023
High Court decision
R v COLLINGS [2022] NZHC 1275 [1 June 2022]
Court of Appeal decision
COLLINGS v R [2022] NZCA 605 [5 December 2022]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
GARATH RICHARD COLLINGS v R [2023] NZSC 67 [14 June 2023] (PDF, 170 KB)
Case name
Madhur Sharma v The King
Case number
SC 6/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
14 April 2023
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MADHUR SHARMA v R [2023] NZSC 34 [14 April 2023] (PDF, 182 KB)
Case name
Kevin Riley Plant v The King
Case number
SC 7/2023
Summary
Criminal 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. 11 July 2023
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Not publicly available
Case name
Tristan Ross Locke v The King
Case number
SC 9/2023
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.

18 May 2023
High Court decision
R v LOCKE [2021] NZHC 1843 [21 July 2021]
Court of Appeal decision
LOCKE v R [2022] NZCA 616 [8 December 2022]
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
TRISTAN ROSS LOCKE v R [2023] NZSC 60 [18 May 2023] (PDF, 151 KB)
Case name
Solicitor-General's Reference (No 1 of 2023) from CA636/2021 ([2022] NZCA 504)
Case number
SC 12/2023
Summary
Solicitor-General's Reference
Result
A We grant leave to the Solicitor-General to refer the following question of law (arising from Darling v R [2022] NZCA 504) to this Court under s 317 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011: On the facts as set out in the Court of Appeal decision and the relevant documents on which guilty pleas were entered, did Mr Anderson’s acquittal mean that Mr Darling could not, in law, have been convicted of the offence with which he was charged, despite his guilty plea?

B We appoint Ms Guy Kidd KC as counsel to assist the Court under s 318(3)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act.
6 April 2023
__________________________________________________________
The question of law (arising from Darling v R [2022] NZCA 504) referred to this Court being whether Mr Anderson’s acquittal meant that Mr Darling could not, in law, have been convicted of the offence with which he was charged, despite his guilty plea, is answered “No”.
17 November 2023
Date of hearing
16 August 2023
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, O’Regan, Ellen France, Williams and Kós JJ; Venue: Auckland Environment Court, Courtroom 2, 41 Federal Street, Auckland
Submissions from counsel
Transcripts
Case Synopses
Media Releases
Court of Appeal decision
DARLING v R [2022] NZCA 504 [21 October 2022]
Leave judgment - leave granted
SOLICITOR-GENERAL’S REFERENCE (NO 1 OF 2023) FROM CA636/2021 [2023] NZSC 30 [6 April 2023] (PDF, 33 KB)
Substantive judgment
SOLICITOR-GENERAL’S REFERENCE (NO 1 OF 2023) [2023] NZSC 151 [17 November 2023] (PDF, 287 KB)
Videos
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