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
Moncello David Shirley v The Queen
Case number
SC 101/2009
Summary
Criminal appeal – convictions for wounding with intent, aggravated burglary and possession of a knife – whether the Court of Appeal erred in rejecting the possibility of self-defence and provocation – whether the Court of Appeal gave insufficient weight to supplementary reports which indicated that certain of the appellant’s characteristics should have been seen as mitigating factors in sentencing – whether the Court of Appeal erred in failing to consider the possible application of section 9 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, given the applicant’s history and experiences in prison.[2009] NZCA 509 CA 57/2009 23 October 2009
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 5 March 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
SHIRLEY v R SC 101/2009 [5 March 2010] (PDF, 29 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
David McAlister v Air New Zealand Limited
Case number
SC 49/2008
Summary
Civil – Employment Relations Act 2000 – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the demotion of the appellant as flight instructor did not breach a prohibited ground of discrimination, namely his age, in terms of s 104(1) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that flight instructors under the age of 60 and performing the same work as the appellant were not a relevant comparator group for the purposes of ss 104(1)(a) and (b) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that being of a particular age was a genuine occupational qualification for the appellant’s employment as a flight instructor in terms of s 30(1) of the Human Rights Act 1993.[2008] NZCA 264 CA 216/07 30 July 2008
Transcripts
- Hearing 25 and 26 March 2009 SC 49/2008 (PDF, 530 KB)
Media Releases
- MR [2009] NZSC 78 (PDF, 89 KB)
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Case name
Alistair Maurk Stuart Lyon v The Queen.
Case number
SC 79/2008
Summary
Criminal – Appeal against sentence – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the non-custodial sentences imposed by the District Court on the appellant. [2008] NZCA 415 CA 305/2008 10 October 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
LYON v R SC 79/2008 [17 December 2008] (PDF, 15 KB)
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
17 December 2008
Case name
Philip David Sturm v The Queen
Case number
SC 35/2007
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction – in relation to appellant’ s conviction for stupefying with intent to facilitate the commission of a crime Court of Appeal held that Crown had to prove not only an intention to facilitate the commission of a crime but also an intention to stupefy – trial directions – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that trial Judge’s directions were sufficient regarding the intention to stupefy – whether Court of Appeal should have focused on whether directions contained an error of law giving rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice rather than focusing on sufficiency of directions – whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that even if directions were unsatisfactory the appellant was clearly subjectively reckless – whether Court of Appeal erred in finding no error in trial Judge’s direction that the voluntary consumption of drugs and alcohol was irrelevant to stupefying counts – whether Court of Appeal erred in concluding that there was no merit in the suggestion that the verdict on the stupefying count “coloured” the other verdicts.CA 35/2007 4 May 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
2 August 2007
2 August 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
STURM V R SC 35/2007 [2 August 2007] (PDF, 17 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Bronwyn Estate Limited, Barry’s Car Sales, Patrick Antony Darby v Gareth Russel Hoole and Kevin David Pitfield as receivers of Hillcrest Services Limited (in receivership) and Hillcrest Services Limited
Case number
SC 81/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – costs awarded against applicants for Anton Pillar application – applicants appealed against cost award – whether the Court of Appeal was correct to refuse to dispense with security for costs – whether this decision denies the applicants access to justice by preventing them from continuing with their appeal. CA 133/07 1 November 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed . Costs $1,500 to the respondents. 8 February 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
David John Young v The Queen
Case number
SC 21/2006
Summary
Criminal appeal - conviction under s 45(1) of the Arms Act 1983 for possession of an airgun except for some lawful, proper, and sufficient purpose - Court of Appeal dismissed appeal against conviction - whether Court of Appeal erred in interpretation and application of ss 42 and 48 of the Crimes Act 1961 - whether the Court of Appeal erred in interpretation and application of ss 4 and 27 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 - whether the Court of Appeal failed to address a ground of appeal. CA 266/05 8 March 2005CA
Result
Leave to Appeal dismissed.
6 June 2006
6 June 2006
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
YOUNG V R SC 21/2006 [6 June 2006] (PDF, 16 KB)
Case name
Michael David Kidd v Alexander Pieter Van Heeren
Case number
SC 32/2006
Summary
Civil – partial stay of proceedings – principles to be applied in lifting a discretionary stay – whether Court of Appeal erred in stating the test – issue estoppel, forum conveniens, and conflict of laws issues. CA 191/05 23 March 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $2000 plus disbursements to the respondent.
26 June 2006
26 June 2006
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
KIDD V VAN HEEREN SC 32/2006 [26 June 2006] (PDF, 94 KB)
Case name
David Charles Adams v The Queen
Case number
SC 37/2006
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction for fraudulently using a document (a GST return) for the purposes of obtaining a pecuniary advantage – applicant incorporated a company for the purposes of reducing ACC levies of clients – applicant secured set-off against company’s GST liability and avoided accounting for GST collected by company – whether Court of Appeal erred in refusing to accept defence (not raised at trial) that company not liable for GST as not carrying on a taxable activity as defined in s 6 Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 – constitutional consequences of acceptance of applicant’s argument adverted to by Court of Appeal. CA 313/05 12 April 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
21 July 2006
21 July 2006
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
ADAMS v R SC 37/2006 [21 July 2006] (PDF, 74 KB)
Case name
David James Thomas Watt v The Queen
Case number
SC 86/2006
Summary
Summary Criminal – appeal against conviction – criminal breach of trust – applicant was trustee and executor of an estate – applicant billed estate and paid himself out of estate funds – finding that applicant knew he was not entitled to be paid – sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment – whether Court of Appeal erred in upholding conviction. CA 131/06 17 October 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
30 July 2007
Judgment appealed from
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
Colyn David Stoves v The Queen
Case number
SC 93/2006
Summary
Criminal – appeal against sentence – recidivist drink driving offending – whether Court of Appeal erred in confirming sentencing judge’ s assessment of aggravating and mitigating factors – whether sentence partially reflected offending outside scope of present charges, in breach of s 25 New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 – whether Court of Appeal erred in confirming that applicant’s ‘poor responses’ to community work and bail obligations properly contributed to refusal of leave to apply for home detention CA 264/06 7 November 2006
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 15 February 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
STOVES v R SC 93/2006 [15 February 2007] (PDF, 13 KB)
Additional document
Judgment appealed from
Page 12 of 13