25 Aug 2022
The High Court held that the aircraft costs for Operation Piano (10-12 Feb 2020) and Warrantless Search Notifications for searches on 11 Feb 2020 are relevant to the lawfulness of the warrantless searches and must be disclosed under s30 because no s16 grounds justified withholding and public interest favoured disclosure; leave to appeal out of time was granted and the appeal allowed.
1 Jun 2022
The stay application was dismissed: the applicant failed to demonstrate the exceptional circumstances required to justify judicial review of search warrants or an interim stay pending that review (following Gill); the District Court is the appropriate forum to test warrant validity and admissibility and judicial review would improperly interfere with criminal process; nine individually named defendants who acted as agents of statutory bodies are to be struck out as unnecessary personal defendants; limited discovery directions were given (disclose issued but unexecuted warrant and application;…
18 Nov 2021
The application is dismissed because habeas corpus is not the appropriate procedure to challenge alleged failures of criminal disclosure; such matters are governed by the Criminal Disclosure Act 2008 and s14(1A)(b) of the Habeas Corpus Act 2001 permits refusal of the writ without an inter partes hearing where the writ is inappropriate.
20 May 2021
The Court granted the s24 application and ordered a non-party disclosure hearing because the slides appeared relevant to the appeal and the statutory criteria in s25 were met; directions were issued to allocate a fixture and to serve specified documents on Forensic Pathology South Island.
14 Dec 2020
The disclosure application was dismissed because the IPCA report sought did not exist and the police call‑out records were not relevant to the appeal — Constable Grove did not witness the incident and the contested issue concerned recordings not before the jury, so the Crown was justified in refusing disclosure.
11 Nov 2020
The application for a non-party disclosure hearing was granted because the footage is likely held by TVNZ, it is at least broadly relevant to a ground of the Governor-General's reference concerning the location inconsistency, and the appellant has laid a realistic evidentiary foundation under s335(2)(e) such that the request is not a general fishing expedition; accordingly the matter should proceed to a s27 hearing and the Registrar ordered to take steps under s26 to enable it.
25 Sept 2020
The material sought meets the low relevance threshold under the CDA, the prosecutor failed to provide adequate reasons for withholding under s14(3)(b), and the District Court applied an incorrect legal test by focusing on probative value and resource burden; matter is therefore referred back to the District Court for proper s30 consideration.
2 Sept 2019
The appeal was dismissed as moot and inappropriate for adjudication because the complainants had agreed to disclosure and the documents had proved relevant at trial; the Court declined to make a categorical rule on "family dynamics" as a basis for disclosure and instead provided procedural guidance to Oranga Tamariki on pursuing targeted appeals in representative cases and appointed counsel to assist in future consolidated appeals; suppression of the respondent's identifying particulars was ordered under s200 Criminal Procedure Act 2011.
30 May 2019
The Court declined the Crown‑disclosure application because the applicant failed to demonstrate that the requested material existed and was both relevant and necessary for the due conduct of the pending appeals; many items were already disclosed or non‑existent and one category was properly withheld under s 16(1)(j), so no court order for further disclosure was warranted.
29 May 2019
The Criminal Disclosure Act only applies to an existing criminal proceeding, including an appeal; there was no live appeal or criminal proceeding before the Court to which the Act could be applied and therefore the Court had no jurisdiction to order non-party disclosure to facilitate a potential Smith application; the application for disclosure is declined.