New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Balance of probabilities

Legal area

Court

8 Oct 2021

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE v LAW [2021] NZCA 517

Citation

[2021] NZCA 517
Court

Court of Appeal

Considering all relevant strands of circumstantial evidence together — the respondent's demonstrably false and inconsistent explanations, possession of valuable gold bars together with burglary tools while committing a burglary, failure to produce documentary evidence, and failure to oppose the application — the Court was satisfied on the balance of probabilities the gold bars were acquired from significant criminal activity and therefore constituted tainted property, warranting an asset forfeiture order vesting the bars in the Crown.
31 May 2019

The Commissioner of Police v Wharehinga [2019] NZHC 1207

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1207
Court

High Court

On the balance of probabilities the $20,000 was tainted property: it was found with evidence of drug supply, the respondent admitted ownership in interview, legitimate income was insufficient to account for the cash, the brother's claim was unsupported and not acted on despite notice; the Commissioner was not required to serve the brother before forfeiture because the Commissioner did not have knowledge that the brother had an enforceable interest and the brother had opportunity to apply for relief but did not do so. Therefore an assets forfeiture order vests the cash in the Crown under s50.
10 Nov 2016

COMMISSIONER OF NEW ZEALAND POLICE v MURRAY [2016] NZHC 2699

Citation

[2016] NZHC 2699
Court

High Court

Possession and effective control of a large commercially valuable quantity of methamphetamine gave Mr Murray the ability and opportunity (the 'chance') to derive a benefit from significant criminal activity; that capacity to profit satisfies the definition of unlawfully benefited under s7 and, having proved unlawful benefit on the balance of probabilities and respondent's interests in property, the Court is required to make a profit forfeiture order under s55 and adopt the $479,000 value under s53.
3 Mar 2014

XU v MAYES [2014] NZHC 349

Citation

[2014] NZHC 349
Court

High Court

On the evidence (including photographs, witness demeanour and consistent accounts by the respondents) the District Court judge was entitled to find on the balance of probabilities that the appellants assaulted and threatened the respondents and that Mr Xu repeatedly followed Mrs Mayes; those findings met the statutory definition of harassment under the Harassment Act 1997 and justified a restraining order under s16; the lawful purpose defence could be considered on appeal but did not rebut the factual findings; the remedy required variation of standard conditions to reflect proximity, so the…
29 Jul 2010

Mora v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2010] NZACC 115
Court

District Court

Medical records and x-rays established calcific tendinitis pre-dated the July 2008 accident; on the balance of probabilities the condition was pre-existing degenerative tendinosis and the accident at best exacerbated symptoms; exacerbation of a pre-existing degenerative condition does not give rise to cover for treatment, therefore ACC's decision to decline funding for surgery was correct and the appeal must be dismissed.
9 Dec 2009

HICKMAN AND ORS V TURN & WAVE LIMITED & ORS HC AK CIV-2008-404-005871

Citation

openlaw-4f654616_5db8_49a4_b247_88870cc3daf0.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court recalled and reissued the judgment to include an analysis of insolvency because consistency between related judgments and the possibility of appeal required it; after evaluating competing expert evidence and the limited financial information (including unidentified placement of Ingot receivables and lack of subsidiary accounts), the Court found there was insufficient evidence to conclude, on the balance of probabilities, that the relevant Blue Chip companies were insolvent at the material times.
11 Jul 2008

Allan v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2008] NZACC 164
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the medical evidence was equivocal and did not establish that a new tearing of the abdominal wall accompanied the appearance of the hernia; the presentation could equally be explained by pressure on an existing lesion, therefore no personal injury by accident was proved and cover is not available.
16 Jul 2001

Wickenden v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2001] NZACC 198
Court

District Court

The respondent was entitled to suspend ongoing entitlements because the medical evidence showed the appellant's current incapacity was not shown to be caused by the original work-related injury, and the appellant failed to prove causation on the balance of probabilities.
28 May 1998

Heke-Gray v Accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance Corporation

Citation

[1998] NZACC 114
Court

District Court

The appellant failed to establish on the balance of probabilities that his osteomyelitis was accident-related because the preponderant specialist medical evidence concluded the infection was spontaneous or that a causal link to the alleged kick was extremely unlikely; therefore the appeal is dismissed.