New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Hearsay evidence admissibility

Legal area

Court

23 Nov 2017

ANGUS v THE DISTRICT COURT [2017] NZHC 2879

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2879
Court

High Court

The High Court dismissed the judicial review because the threshold for intervention was not met: the District Court applied the correct legal principles, the delay did not make a fair trial impossible given the Crown's documentary evidence and statutory safeguards (including admissible business records and hearsay protections), and statutory appeal and pre-trial remedies render judicial review inappropriate except in truly exceptional cases.
4 Sept 2015

NICON LIMITED v TOWER INSURANCE LIMITED [2015] NZHC 2132

Citation

[2015] NZHC 2132
Court

High Court

The hearsay evidence of the defendants' witness was admissible under Evidence Act s18 because the circumstances provided reasonable assurance of reliability and requiring the maker to attend would cause disproportionate cost and delay; the plaintiff's unsigned and unauthorised accountant statement did not rebut impecuniosity; the threshold in r5.45 is met and, in exercise of discretion given weak aspects of the claim and likely significant discovery costs, security for costs of NZD 35,000 was ordered on a staged basis with specified stay and strike-out consequences.