New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Product liability

Legal area

Court

26 Jan 2018

The Minister of Education and Others v James Hardie New Zealand 2018 NZHC 22

Citation

2018 NZHC 22
Court

High Court

The Building Act 1991/2004 longstop provisions apply to contribution claims that relate to building work; CHH's three-year delay in serving third party notices was inordinate but did not produce such serious prejudice as to justify setting aside or striking out the notices; certain CHH claims (those specifically identified by reliable CCC date evidence) were time-barred and struck out; the remainder of CHH's contribution claims are not so clearly statute-barred and must proceed with case-managed provision of particulars; it is arguable the Ministry's loss and CHH's claims against Councils con…
31 Aug 2017

WHITE v JAMES HARDIE NEW ZEALAND [2017] NZHC 2105

Citation

[2017] NZHC 2105
Court

High Court

The Court refused summary judgment for JHNZH and RCIH because the plaintiffs established a real and arguable basis and factual materials (complaints records, provisions in subsidiary accounts, overlap of personnel) such that it could not be shown that the plaintiffs were bound to fail on the duty-to-warn/recall cause of action and related FTA claim; regarding JHI the Court set aside the protest to jurisdiction in part because the plaintiffs showed a good arguable case and a serious issue to be tried against JHI in relation to the duty-to-warn claim and associated FTA allegations, subject to t…
3 Oct 2014

THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION v JAMES HARDIE NEW ZEALAND [2014] NZHC 2432

Citation

[2014] NZHC 2432
Court

High Court

The Court held the negligence/product liability pleadings were inadequate insofar as they failed to plead actual damage or loss with particularity building-by-building; plaintiffs must provide particulars identifying which buildings are alleged to be damaged already, which are at risk, the nature of the damage, and which specific alleged cladding defects apply to each building, and must disclose whether acceptable solution(s) were followed and why negligence is alleged despite such compliance. Requests for particulars about supply contract chains and detailed dates of CHH's internal knowledge…
4 Apr 2014

THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION v CARTER HOLT HARVEY LTD [2014] NZHC 681

Citation

[2014] NZHC 681
Court

High Court

On strike out principles the plaintiffs' pleaded causes of action could not be said to be plainly untenable: (1) proximity and a duty of care in negligence were arguable on the pleadings and contextual evidence given foreseeability, vulnerability and potential physical damage; (2) CGA claims based on guarantees against a manufacturer are arguable though guarantees that apply only to 'suppliers' cannot be sustained; and (3) the 10 year long stop (s91/s393) does not apply to the manufacture and supply of generic building components not related to work on a specific building, so the proceedings…

New Zealand Case Law

The Minister of Education and Others v James Hardie New Zealand 2018 NZHC 22

WHITE v JAMES HARDIE NEW ZEALAND [2017] NZHC 2105

THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION v JAMES HARDIE NEW ZEALAND [2014] NZHC 2432

THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION v CARTER HOLT HARVEY LTD [2014] NZHC 681