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
Robert Michael Symons, Gregory John Symons and others v Wiltshire Investments Limited
Case number
SC 92/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Appeal against Court of Appeal upholding a summary decision of the High Court – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the refusal by the respondents to produce critical relevant documents that are in the respondent’s sole possession did not constitute a failure by the respondent to discharge the onus on a summary judgment application to establish that the appellants had no arguable defence – Whether the use of residual discretion to refuse an application for summary judgment under r 12.2 of the High Court Rules was justified – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that the confidentiality can be a valid ground for refusal to disclose relevant documentation to the Court and the defendants in a summary judgment application. [2011] NZCA 397 CA 534/2010
Result
Leave to appeal is granted in relation to the indebtedness associated with Opus Fintek Ltd (in receivership). The approved question is whether the Associate Judge ought to have entered summary judgment despite the non disclosure of the 2009 settlement agreement between Opus Fintek Ltd and Hats Holdings Ltd.
17 November 2011
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A Leave to appeal is extended to cover the indebtedness of Fibroin Initiatives Ltd.
B The appeal is allowed with the result that the entry of summary judgment is set aside but with leave reserved to the respondent to seek summary judgment once it has disclosed the settlement agreement to the appellants.
C The awards of costs in the High Court and Court of Appeal are set aside. 9 August 2012
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17 October 2012:
Judgment recalled and reissued. A Leave to appeal is extended to cover the indebtedness of Fibroin Initiatives Ltd.
B The appeal is allowed with the result that the entry of summary judgment is set aside.
C Upon disclosure of the settlement agreement to the appellants, the application for summary judgment is, at the option of the respondent, to be reheard in the High Court with the appellants at liberty to resist the claim (and, if they think appropriate, produce additional evidence) on the basis of (i) defences associated with, or arising out of the disclosure of the settlement agreement and (ii), subject to the leave of the High Court being obtained, on any other basis. The appellants are also at liberty to make such interlocutory applications to the High Court as they see fit. D The awards of costs in the High Court and Court of Appeal are set aside.
17 November 2011
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A Leave to appeal is extended to cover the indebtedness of Fibroin Initiatives Ltd.
B The appeal is allowed with the result that the entry of summary judgment is set aside but with leave reserved to the respondent to seek summary judgment once it has disclosed the settlement agreement to the appellants.
C The awards of costs in the High Court and Court of Appeal are set aside. 9 August 2012
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17 October 2012:
Judgment recalled and reissued. A Leave to appeal is extended to cover the indebtedness of Fibroin Initiatives Ltd.
B The appeal is allowed with the result that the entry of summary judgment is set aside.
C Upon disclosure of the settlement agreement to the appellants, the application for summary judgment is, at the option of the respondent, to be reheard in the High Court with the appellants at liberty to resist the claim (and, if they think appropriate, produce additional evidence) on the basis of (i) defences associated with, or arising out of the disclosure of the settlement agreement and (ii), subject to the leave of the High Court being obtained, on any other basis. The appellants are also at liberty to make such interlocutory applications to the High Court as they see fit. D The awards of costs in the High Court and Court of Appeal are set aside.
Leave judgment - leave granted
sc 92 2011 symons v wiltshire investments ltd (PDF, 10 KB)
Transcript
Elias CJ, Blanchard, Tipping, McGrath, William Young JJ
Case name
SNC v The Queen
Case number
SC 101/2011
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Evidence Act 2006 – Admissibility of evidence “improperly obtained” by police pursuant to a warrantless search – whether the Court of Appeal erred in upholding the District Court Judge’ s decision to admit the evidence in exercise of the balancing test required by subs 30(2) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal failed to give sufficient weight to and/or erred in its assessment of the listed factors in paras 30(3)(a), (b) and (d) of the Act – whether the Court of Appeal gave too much weight to the importance of the evidence to the case of the prosecution[2011] NZCA 402 CA 191/2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
18 October 2011.
18 October 2011.
Case name
Robert Erwood v Raylee Harley and the Official Assignee
Case number
SC 132/2011
Summary
Civil Appeal – Disbursements – Appeal against a decision of the Court of Appeal which set aside the Registrar’s decision to award $1,000 in disbursements to the applicant – The Court of Appeal declined to recall the decision when presented with new information in relation to this matter – Whether an unrepresented litigant can be awarded costs or disbursements relating to legal advice obtained for the purposes of litigation when the order only covered “usual disbursements” as defined – Whether this matter should be remitted back to the Court of Appeal for full panel hearing.[2011] NZCA 370 CA 260/2009
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
24 April 2012.
24 April 2012.
Case name
Avowal Administrative Attorneys Limted and Nikytas Nicholas Petroulias v The District Court at North Shore and The Commissioner of Inland Revenue
Case number
SC 55/2010
Summary
Civil – Judicial review - Powers of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue to obtain information under the Tax Administration Act 1994 – That the Court of Appeal erred in failing to require that inspection of documents be necessary and relevant before the CIR may access them – That the Court of Appeal erred in finding no scope to interpret “book or document” in s16 of the TAA narrowly – That the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the CIR had an obligation to disclose the information obtained to the Australian Tax Office.[2010] NZCA 183 CA 73/2009 11 May 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
Applicants must pay 2nd respondents cost of $3,000 plus disbursements as fixed by the Registrar.
16 August 2010.
Case name
Philip John Smith v The Attorney-General
Case number
SC 71/2010
Summary
Civil Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal denied the appellant the right to a fair hearing on account of bias, hostility and predetermining the appellant’s recusal applications; whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that evidence tendered at the High Court was admissible; whether psychological reports of the appellant were obtained in breached s 11 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.[2010] NZCA 258 23 June 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
8 September 2010
Case name
R S v The Queen
Case number
SC 103/2010
Summary
Criminal – Exclusion of evidence – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that what specific drug, if any, a police constable is searching for under s 18(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 is a factual rather than legal issue - Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that whether s 23(1)(b) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act had been breached is a factual rather than legal issue – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its deciding unlawfully obtained evidence was admissible under the balancing exercise in s 30(2) of the Evidence Act 2006.[2010] NZCA 434 CA 333/2010 22 September 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Not publicly available
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
16 November 2010.
Case name
DH v The Queen
Case number
SC 107/2010
Summary
Criminal – Summary Proceedings Act 1957 – Appellants charged with cultivation, supply and possession of cannabis – Whether Court of Appeal erred in not explicitly ruling that a search warrant issued under s 198 SPA cannot authorise the installation of covert video surveillance cameras – Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding exclusion of surveillance evidence would be disproportionate to impropriety in obtaining it.[2010] NZCA 457 CA 221/2010 7 October 2010
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed
2 December 2010
Case name
GB v The Queen
Case number
SC 108/2010
Summary
Criminal – Summary Proceedings Act 1957 – Appellants charged with cultivation, supply and possession of cannabis – Whether Court of Appeal erred in not explicitly ruling that a search warrant issued under s 198 SPA cannot authorise the installation of covert video surveillance cameras – Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding exclusion of surveillance evidence would be disproportionate to impropriety in obtaining it.[2010] NZCA 457 CA 222/2010 7 October 2010
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
Not publicly available
Dates
Application for leave to appeal dismissed
2 December 2010
Case name
Henry David Levin and Barry Philip Jordan v Patrick Ikiua, Kenti Apa, Tess Apa, Mark Crosbie, Andrew David Smith.
Case number
SC 123/2010
Summary
Civil – Liquidators’ right under s 298 of the Companies Act 1993 to recover property which a liquidated company has disposed of to certain entities – Whether the company must have had a proprietary interest in the property – Whether s 298 applies only to transactions where the directors are duty bound to obtain fair value in return for the disposition of property – Whether the company had legitimately transferred its assets – Whether the directors of the company had breached their duties by disposing of all profits.[2010] NZCA 509 CA 508/2009 12 November 2010
Dates
Notice of Abandonment being lodged, the application is deemed to be dismissed.
Case name
Alana Glenys-May Thomas v The Queen
Case number
SC 11/2009
Summary
Criminal – Appeal from decision of the Court of Appeal allowing the admission of certain evidence at trial – Police executing a search warrant obtained the evidence through a search of an apartment – Applicant pleaded guilty to variety of drug-related offences – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the police search warrant was lawful and the evidence lawfully and properly obtained – Whether the Court of Appeal should have given greater weight to the breach of s 198 of the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 in determining whether the evidence should have been admitted.[2008] NZCA 4352 CA 81/2008 8 September 2008
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed.
7 April 2009
7 April 2009
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
THOMAS v R SC 11/2009 [7 April 2009] (PDF, 16 KB)
Judgment appealed from
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