New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Illegality of contracts

Legal area

Court

26 Mar 2018

XIAO v SUN [2018] NZHC 536

Citation

[2018] NZHC 536
Court

High Court

Loan agreements were illegal contracts because they related to gambling conducted by the lender who provided credit for gambling (Gambling Act s15) and therefore were unenforceable under the CCLA; validation was refused as a matter of public interest and statutory purpose; plaintiff was relieved from repaying the residual principal (approx. NZD33,000) and defendant restrained from enforcing any mortgage or other remedy under the illegal agreements.
2 Mar 2017

BROWN v BROWN [2017] NZHC 350

Citation

[2017] NZHC 350
Court

High Court

Ron Brown's claim was assessed as having very limited prospects because the 2011 pecuniary penalty and Woolford J's orders meant Ron's beneficial interest was intended to be applied to satisfy the Crown unless sold to a family member; the 2013 sale to Teresa therefore complied with that order and cannot be undermined by alleging a back‑transfer arrangement which would defeat the court order and be illegal or dishonest. Given Ron's proven impecuniosity and the weak merits, security for costs was appropriate but tempered to preserve access to the court by fixing security at NZD 10,000.