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.
3 July 2026
Case information summary (as at 3 July 2026) – Cases where leave granted (PDF, 88 KB)
Case information summary (as at 3 July 2026) – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 127 KB)
All years
Case name
Brian Johnson Mankelow v The Queen
Case number
SC 30/2007
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction – trial directions as to inferences – whether the Court of Appeal should have reconsidered its decision in 2005 that certain evidence was admissible in light of the decision of the Court of Appeal in R v Williams [2007] NZCA 52 – whether there has been a substantial miscarriage of justice. CA 443/06 19 April 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
20 July 2007
20 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MANKELOW v R SC 30/2007 [20 July 2007] (PDF, 15 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
Palmiro McDonald v The Queen
Case number
SC 36/2007
Summary
Criminal appeal – Crimes Act 1961, s 339 – exercise of discretion by trial judge to include an lesser charge – whether jury direction effective to cure any prejudice caused by disclosure of inadmissible evidence at trial. CA 356/06 20 April 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
21 August 2007
21 August 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
McDONALD v R SC 36/2007 [21 August 2007] (PDF, 22 KB)
Judgment appealed from
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
George Socrates Mamfredos and others v Herbert Equities Limited
Case number
SC 48/2007
Summary
Civil – principles applicable to lodging of caveats – whether, in the circumstances, the applicants (against whom caveat applications were brought) bore and failed to discharge an evidential onus – whether the Court of Appeal erred in fact and law, took irrelevant matters into account or failed to have regard to relevant pieces of evidence in overturning in part the High Court’s decision to dismiss the respondent’s caveat applications.CA 147/06 6 July 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Judgment appealed from
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
Mustafa Can v The Queen
Case number
SC 54/2007
Summary
Criminal – sexual violation – s 128 Crimes Act 1961 – whether the jury direction on the applicant’s reasonable belief in consent, based on the test in R v Gutuama (Court of Appeal, CA 275/01, 13 December 2001), was in conflict with the statutory language in s 128 Crimes Act 1961 – whether expert evidence as to the intellectual limitations of the complainant was wrongly admitted.CA 492/05 16 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 27 November 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MUSTAFA CAN v R SC 54/2007 [27 November 2007] (PDF, 19 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Michael Raymond Main v Kevin Evan Main
Case number
SC 56/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 2(3) – whether the Court of Appeal was correct in holding that the respondent had proved that the premises were let principally for purposes other than residential purposes – whether the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to make s 2(3) finding – whether the respondent had complied with the Court of Appeal’ s order as to the filing of additional evidence – whether the Court of Appeal failed to take into account evidence filed.CA 25/07 23 July 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. Costs $2,500 to respondent. 8 October 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MAIN v MAIN SC 56/2007 [8 October 2007] (PDF, 13 KB)
Judgment appealed from
Case name
Glenharrow Holdings Limited v Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 59/2007
Summary
Civil appeal – avoidance of GST under section 76 of Goods and Services Tax Act 1985 – whether the High Court erred in its findings of fact relating to the value of the mining license purchased by the applicant - whether the High Court erred when it concluded that the purchase price for the mining license was grossly inflated – whether the evidence was such that only one conclusion was reasonably open to the Court – whether a substantial miscarriage of justice occurred as a result of incorrect findings of fact – whether, given the High Court finding that the transaction was a genuine arms length agreement, there was a basis for a finding under section 76 that the transaction defeated the scheme and purposes of the Act– whether an open market value should be used when determining GST obligations where a transaction is genuine and at arms length – whether the Court of Appeal erred by conflating the value of a loan used to purchase an asset with the consideration paid – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its approach to determining the total consideration – whether it was open to the Court of Appeal to make a finding that the loan repayments amounted to an ‘ empty obligation’ – whether the Court of Appeal erred in its application of Peterson v CIR [2006] 3 NZLR 433CA 192/05 15 August 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal granted. 4 October 2007
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment / Media release
Judgment appealed from
Transcript
Hearing date : 8 – 10 July 2008
Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath , Anderson JJ
Case name
Shahram Aram v The Queen
Case number
SC 60/2007
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction and sentence – convicted of five drug offences –whether substantial miscarriage of justice may have occurred – fresh evidence of corruption, conspiracy and perjury – seeking order quashing conviction and sentence or, alternatively, order for retrial. CA 407/06 2 August 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
4 December 2007
4 December 2007
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
ARAM V R SC 60/2007 [4 December 2007] (PDF, 15 KB)
Judgment appealed from
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