New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

New Zealand Case Law

Public access to court records

  • 23 Sept 2021

    CPB CONTRACTORS PTY LIMITED v AECOM NEW ZEALAND LIMITED [2021] NZHC 2512

    Citation
    [2021] NZHC 2512
    Court
    High Court

    The judge held that the judgment of Venning J and the case management minutes fall within the formal court record and, absent good reason to restrict access under r 5, the strong presumptive right under r 8(1) requires disclosure; asserted lack of public interest did not constitute a good reason to withhold these documents, so access was ordered to the judgment and minutes.

    • Senior courts (access to court documents) rules 2017
    • Public access to court records
    • Case management minutes
    • Discovery
    • Judicial discretion to restrict access

  • 14 Nov 2018

    ELWYN SHEEHAN (Access to Court Files) [2018] NZHC 2947

    Citation
    [2018] NZHC 2947
    Court
    High Court

    The applicant is entitled to access the permanent court record for the 1946 Supreme Court file, including the sentencing notes; the Registrar may provide a copy and levy a reasonable copying charge.

    • Permanent court records
    • Sentencing notes
    • Public access to court records

  • 4 Oct 2018

    THE COMMISSIONER, NEW ZEALAND POLICE v ROBINSON [2018] NZHC 2597

    Citation
    [2018] NZHC 2597
    Court
    High Court

    Access to the specified court documents was granted to the Dominion Post and Stuff for reporting purposes, subject to suppression of the unredacted affidavit of Helen Beck and provision of a Commissioner‑redacted affidavit because redaction was necessary to protect privacy, confidentiality, officer identity, commercially sensitive bank details and non‑disclosable Inland Revenue material.

    • Public access to court records
    • Redaction and suppression
    • Privacy and confidentiality
    • Protection of investigative sources
    • Balancing freedom of expression and privacy

  • 13 Jul 2018

    WORLDCLEAR LIMITED v T1 HOLDINGS LIMITED [2018] NZHC 1728

    Citation
    [2018] NZHC 1728
    Court
    High Court

    Access to the court file was granted in accordance with the principle of open justice and the Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017, but the court lacks jurisdiction to provide an unsupervised remote copy; the applicant must arrange supervised search, inspection, or copying with the Registry.

    • Access to court files
    • Public access to court records
    • Supervised inspection and copying
    • Senior courts (access to court documents) rules 2017
    • High court rules r11.5

  • 18 Nov 2013

    ASB BANK LIMITED v COMMISSIONER OF INLAND REVENUE [2013] NZHC 3042

    Citation
    [2013] NZHC 3042
    Court
    High Court

    There is no general presumption against access to pleadings at the pre-hearing stage; the court must apply the evaluative exercise in r 3.16 and, having weighed the relevant factors (complete pleadings, no unfairness, strong public interest in taxation matters and open justice), permission to inspect the statement of claim and statement of defence is granted.

    • Disclosure of pleadings
    • Public access to court records
    • Open justice
    • Application of high court rules r 3.11-3.16

  • 21 Apr 2010

    BIRKENFELD V KENDALL AND ANOR SC 17/2010

    Citation
    SC 17/2010
    Court
    Supreme Court

    The application for leave to appeal was dismissed because the applicant failed to show that the court rules were invalid on the grounds advanced or that they prejudiced preparation of her case, and she failed to establish that an interim stay was necessary given that the challenged judgment was consequential on an earlier judgment with exhausted appeal rights.

    • Public access to court records
    • Stay of proceedings
    • Judicial disqualification
    • Appeal and leave to appeal