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
W v The Queen
Case number
SC 78/2007
Summary
Criminal – appeal against conviction – sexual offending against daughter – alleged errors in interventions, directions and summing-up by trial Judge, circumstances of recall of expert witness by Crown after closing addresses, and conduct of defence counsel – whether various alleged trial errors, individually or collectively, may have given rise to a substantial miscarriage of justice.[2007] NZCA 34 CA 222/06 1 March 2007
Result
Application for leave to appeal dismissed. 15 April 2008
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
W V R SC 78/2007 [15 April 2008] (PDF, 18 KB)
Judgment appealed from

R v W(CA222/06) [2007] NZCA 34 (1 March 2007)
Case name
Peterson Portable Sawing Systems Ltd & Carl James Peterson v Rex Cameron Lucas & G W Lucas & Sons Pty Ltd
Case number
SC 14/2005
Summary
Civil appeal - Patents Act 1953 - whether the Court adopted the correct principles for the construction of the patent specification - whether the Court applied the proper test for assessing obviousness and made the appropriate distinction between novelty and obviousness - proper application of the Windsurfing International Inc v Tabur Marine (Great Britain) Ltd [1985] RPC 59 analysis. CA 64/03 4 March 2005
Result
Leave to appeal granted. 
25 July 2005 
_________________ 
The appeal is allowed.
30 March 2006
Transcripts
Leave judgment - leave granted
PETERSON PORTABLE SAWING SYSTEMS LTD And Anor V LUCAS And Anor SC SC 14/2005 [25 July 2005] (PDF, 15 KB)
Substantive judgment
PETERSON PORTABLE SAWING SYSTEMS LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) And Anor V REX CAMERON LUCAS And Anor SC 14/2005 [30 March 2006] (PDF, 419 KB)
Judgment appealed from

PETERSON PORTABLE SAWING SYSTEMS LTD AND ANOR V LUCAS AND ANOR CA CA64/03 4 March 2005
Case name
W J Clark v The Attorney-General
Case number
SC CIV 25/2004
Summary
Civil appeal against the refusal of an application for interim name suprpession - whether failure to give name suppression amounted to a breach of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 or the Convention Against Torture - whether the principle of open justice requires that the applicant's name be publicly available - whether, and to what extent the practice of the United Nations's Committee Against Torture and the right to privacy are relevant to the application.CA 213/04 2 December 2004; 8 December 2004
Result
Leave to appeal refused. 17 February 2005
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
CLARK V THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL SC SC CIV 25/2004 [17 February 2005] (PDF, 17 KB)
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