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
Body Corporate 207624 v Grimshaw & Co
Case number
SC 47/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay the respondent costs of $2,500.
1 August 2024
Case name
Tristan Lee Tamati v The King
Case number
SC 48/2024
Summary

Criminal Appeal

Result

A Leave to appeal is granted (Tamati v R [2024] NZCA 113).
B The approved questions are as follows:
(a) whether errors by trial counsel may have occasioned a miscarriage of justice; and
(b) whether in the circumstances a reliability warning was required.
2 August 2024
________________________________________________
The appeal is dismissed.                                                                                                                                          
03 July 2025

Date of hearing
25 February 2025
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, Williams, Kós and Miller JJ
Transcripts
Case Synopses
Media Releases
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Videos
Case name
Louise Buchanan, Keith Marshall and Alistair Donald as trustees of the Buchanan Marshall Family Trust v Tasman District Council
Case number
SC 49/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal
Result
A Leave to appeal is granted (Tasman District Council v Louise Buchanan, Keith Marshall and Alistair Donald as Trustees of the Buchanan Marshall Family Trust [2024] NZCA 133).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct to hold that there was no duty of care owed by the respondent to the appellants while carrying out and making statements in relation to pool inspections under the Fencing of Swimming Pools Act 1987.
20 August 2024
____________________________
A notice of abandonment having been filed, the appeal is abandoned.
06 March 2025
Case name
Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (Australasia) Limited v Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-Based Institutions and Attorney-General
Case number
SC 50/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to exceed the ten-page limit is dismissed.
B The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
C The applicant must pay the second respondent costs of $2,500.
13 September 2024
Case name
The Trustees of the Motiti Rohe Moana Trust and Te Maru o Ngāti Rangiwewehi v Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Case number
SC 51/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicants must pay the respondent one set of costs of $2,500.
27 August 2024
Case name
Jeremy James McGuire v Central Standards Committee 3, General Standards Committee 1, General Standards Committee 3, Legal Complaints Review Officer, Wellington Standards Committee 1 and Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal
Case number
SC 61/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicant must pay one set of costs of $2,500 to the first, second, third and fifth respondents.
27 August 2024
Case name
Bartholomaeus Roland Lassnig v Qian Zhou and Qian Zhou and Bartholomaeus Roland Lassnig as Trustees of the Lassnig Family Trust
Case number
SC 65/2024
Summary

Civil Appeal

Result

A Leave to appeal is granted (Zhou v Lassnig [2024] NZCA 177).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct in its analysis under s 182 of the Family Proceedings Act 1980.
17 September 2024
_______________________________________________________
A The appeal is dismissed. The orders made by the Court of Appeal as to the resettlement of the Trust stand.
B The appellant must pay the first respondent costs of $30,000 plus usual disbursements. We allow for second counsel.
15 September 2025

Date of hearing
04 March 2025
Judges
Glazebrook, Ellen France, Williams, Kós and Miller JJ
Case name
S (SC 75/2024) v The King
Case number
SC 75/2024
Summary
Criminal Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
21 October 2024
High Court decision
Not publicly available
Court of Appeal decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Case name
David Wayne Tamihere v The King
Case number
SC 82/2024
Summary

Criminal Appeal

Result

A Leave to appeal is granted (Tamihere v R [2024] NZCA 300).
B The approved question is whether the Court of Appeal was correct not to exercise its jurisdiction under s 406(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1961 to quash Mr Tamihere’s convictions.
20 December 2024
__________________________________________________
A The application to adduce further evidence is dismissed.
B The appeal is allowed.
C We exercise the Court’s jurisdiction under s 406(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1961 to quash Mr Tamihere’s convictions. We make an order directing a retrial.
D Order redacting paragraphs [49]–[61], [79]–[120], [147]– [161], [163]–[164] and [167]–[170] from the judgment delivered on 31 March 2026.
E Order prohibiting publication of the unredacted version of the judgment pending final disposition of retrial.     
31 March 2026

Date of hearing
18 August 2025 - 20 August 2025
Judges
Winkelmann CJ, Glazebrook, Ellen France, Williams and Kós JJ | Venue: Auckland High Court, Courtroom 11
Media Releases
Leave judgment - leave granted
Substantive judgment
Case name
Arena Alceon NZ Credit Partners, LLC and Quaestor Advisors, LLC v Damien Mitchell Grant and Adam Stevenson Botterill as Liquidators of Ormiston Rise Limited (in receivership and liquidation) and Damien Mitchell Grant and Adam Stevenson Botterill as Liquid
Case number
SC 99/2024
Summary
Civil Appeal - Application for leave to bring an appeal
Result
A The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
B The applicants must pay the respondents one set of costs of $2,500.
5 December 2024