New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Compensatory damages

Legal area

Court

27 Jan 2021

CRAIG v SLATER [2021] NZHC 30

Citation

[2021] NZHC 30
Court

High Court

Multiple publications by first defendant (Slater) and by publisher SMC were defamatory as determined on appeal; general and aggravated damages were appropriate but exemplary damages were not because defendant conduct did not reach the threshold of flagrant disregard; court assessed total compensatory award at NZD 325,000 (general plus aggravated), allocated NZD 80,000 as sole liability of Slater for the Newstalk ZB publication and made remaining liability joint and several against Slater and SMC; disbursements for the self-represented plaintiff were awarded but reduced to reflect partial fail…
3 Oct 2019

AUSTRALASIAN PERFORMING RIGHT ASSOCIATION LTD v JT HI FI LTD [2019] NZHC 2508 [3 October 2019]

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2508
Court

High Court

Evidence established the works were publicly performed in the retail premises and authorised by JT Hi Fi and Mr Tom, who were aware since at least 1 July 2014 that a licence was required; compensatory damages equal to the licence fees for the period were awarded and, because the infringement was deliberate and flagrant, additional damages of $15,000 under s 121(2) were appropriate; an injunction was necessary to prevent future infringements.
5 Nov 2014

KEARNS v MILNER [2014] NZHC 2752

Citation

[2014] NZAR 1494
Court

High Court

The court found all elements of malicious prosecution established: Ms Milner fabricated texts and encouraged the complaint, thereby procuring the prosecution; the proceedings terminated without incrimination; she lacked reasonable and probable cause and acted maliciously; plaintiff suffered compensable loss from 17 days incarceration and related harms; award made of $45,000 compensatory and $10,000 exemplary damages, plus costs to plaintiff on a 2B basis.
21 Jan 2010

HANDFORTH V KOKOMOKO FARMS LIMITED HC NAP CIV 2009-441-000477

Citation

openlaw-096af313_a76a_479d_91ee_885e72b85e81.pdf
Court

High Court

The Court upheld a broad construction of the Easement Certificate and Seventh Schedule/Land Transfer Act language, holding the easement conferred rights to use the whole area of land shown (including movement of livestock, loading/unloading, parking and turning), that the side gates and loading race were lawful points of access, and that the appellants' post-and-rail fences and signs constituted a substantial interference with those rights; accordingly the District Court's orders requiring removal of the fences and signs and awarding compensatory and exemplary damages were upheld, but the Hig…
30 Aug 2006

SLATER V ATTORNEY-GENERAL CIV 2005-404-003728

Citation

openlaw-32074447_8244_427a_a0c0_937d2ddb0e03.pdf
Court

High Court

Police exceeded their lawful powers when they used pepper spray pre-emptively to abstract the occupants, which rendered the subsequent arrest, restraint and detention unlawful despite some of the force used being otherwise reasonable; compensatory damages of NZD 5,000 are awarded for the over seven hours' detention; exemplary and public law damages are declined; costs to appellant at scale 2B and disbursements as fixed by the Registrar.
4 May 2005

CARTER HOLT HARVEY LTD V YUKICH CA CA42/04

Citation

openlaw-eac24855_d4ce_4e0e_9bbe_4214f8ec99ee.pdf
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held the Employment Court's factual findings — that Yukich probably would have remained employed until the 19 January 2003 redundancies, that contingencies were unlikely, and that his mitigation efforts were adequate — were open on the evidence and not reviewable as errors of law; the 58‑week lost remuneration award, the assessment of redundancy entitlement, and the treatment of mitigation were within the Judge's discretion, so the appeal was dismissed.

New Zealand Case Law

CRAIG v SLATER [2021] NZHC 30

AUSTRALASIAN PERFORMING RIGHT ASSOCIATION LTD v JT HI FI LTD [2019] NZHC 2508 [3 October 2019]

KEARNS v MILNER [2014] NZHC 2752

HANDFORTH V KOKOMOKO FARMS LIMITED HC NAP CIV 2009-441-000477

SLATER V ATTORNEY-GENERAL CIV 2005-404-003728

CARTER HOLT HARVEY LTD V YUKICH CA CA42/04