New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Reputational harm

Legal area

Court

17 Jun 2020

PALMERSTON NORTH CITY COUNCIL v FORTRESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS LIMITED [2020] NZHC 1364

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1364
Court

High Court

The application for an interim suppression order was dismissed because, although publication was likely prejudicial to FISL, the prejudice was not of sufficient weight to overcome the high threshold for non‑publication given (a) the judgment was already in the public domain, (b) the decision was interim and made without notice, and (c) the public interest in disclosure and opportunity for FISL to present its case meant suppression was not justified.
21 Aug 2013

CAPITAL + MERCHANT FINANCE LTD (IN RECEIVERSHIP AND IN LIQUIDATION) v STACE HAMMOND [2013] NZHC 2121

Citation

[2013] NZHC 2121
Court

High Court

Journalists have a legitimate public interest and the defendant had no special confidentiality or privacy interest; the fact of the proceedings was already public, the pleadings were professionally pleaded and not scurrilous, and disclosure would not cause significant additional prejudice — accordingly access to inspect and copy the statement of claim and defence was granted.
22 May 2008

QUANTUM LABORATORY LIMITED AND ORS V THE DUNEDIN DISTRICT COURT HC DUN CIV 2007-412-000357

Citation

openlaw-8fa52097_fec6_42af_b639_ce5d9465c7b3.pdf
Court

High Court

Although the District Court judgment contained unfortunate and reputationally harmful passages concerning Peter Lester, the High Court held that as a general rule non-parties to adversarial proceedings are not entitled to mandatory procedural fairness or declaratory relief quashing findings; the Carthy J approach was preferred and the application for judicial review was dismissed.

New Zealand Case Law

PALMERSTON NORTH CITY COUNCIL v FORTRESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS LIMITED [2020] NZHC 1364

CAPITAL + MERCHANT FINANCE LTD (IN RECEIVERSHIP AND IN LIQUIDATION) v STACE HAMMOND [2013] NZHC 2121

QUANTUM LABORATORY LIMITED AND ORS V THE DUNEDIN DISTRICT COURT HC DUN CIV 2007-412-000357