New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Summary judgment standard

Legal area

Court

31 Aug 2023

CDC SERVICES LIMITED (IN LIQUIDATION) v CLARK [2023] NZHC 2392

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2392
Court

High Court

The Court granted summary judgment in part: it accepted liquidators' claims requiring adjustment of the defendant's current account for (a) retention/undisclosed disposition of company funds and bank deposits totalling NZD 50,345.20 and (b) disallowance of the director's credit for a USA Unimog introduced to the company (NZD 52,500.00). The Court declined summary judgment on claims alleging introduced stock credits, large unaccounted-for stock reconciliations, and the New Zealand Unimog (GBLMOG) valuation because material factual and valuation issues and evidentiary gaps remained. The Court f…
30 Jun 2022

KANG v GUANGZHOU DONGJIANG PETROLEUM SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LTD [2022] NZCA 281

Citation

[2022] NZCA 281
Court

Court of Appeal

The appeal is dismissed because the appellant failed to establish a tenable public policy defence: the evidence did not show bribery of a serving public official or that enforcement would shock New Zealand conscience; evidence of Chinese law was irrelevant to the New Zealand public policy inquiry and leave to adduce further foreign‑law evidence was declined.
3 Nov 2021

WAIMAURI LIMITED v GORDON [2021] NZHC 2965

Citation

[2021] NZHC 2965
Court

High Court

Summary judgment was refused because the plaintiff failed to establish that the defendant had no arguable defence: although the court found the agreement could be characterised as a deed (so limitation did not bar the claim), there remained genuine triable issues as to whether the plaintiff actually paid the loan principal to the borrowers or their order and whether the plaintiff's prolonged delay in enforcement gave rise to oppressive conduct; those issues required full hearing rather than resolution on affidavits.
17 Jun 2021

HAWKINS v HAWKINS [2021] NZHC 1440

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1440
Court

High Court

The defendant failed to meet the high threshold required to show the Trust was a sham on the available evidence; contested factual issues about control, knowledge and conduct of trustees and settlors could not be resolved on summary judgment and therefore the application was dismissed.
3 Dec 2020

EVERSONS INTERNATIONAL LTD (In Liq) v STEWART [2020] NZHC 3188

Citation

[2020] NZHC 3188
Court

High Court

The application for summary judgment was dismissed because material factual disputes existed about the nature of key payments (investments v advances), the liquidators had not produced a satisfactory reconstructed set of accounts or reconciled post-2014 transactions, and there was an arguable limitation defence in relation to at least the $2,000,000 payment; those disputes made summary determination of liability or amount inappropriate.
17 Jul 2020

KANE v BODY CORPORATE 325261 [2020] NZHC 1736

Citation

[2020] NZHC 1736
Court

High Court

The term 'accepts' in s 203 requires the person to consent to the transfer; registration of a vesting order without the Body Corporate's knowledge or consent did not constitute acceptance and therefore did not create personal liability under s 203; because s 99 LTA 1952 makes vesting orders ineffective until registration, consent to registration is required for liability to arise.
30 Aug 2019

SANDFIELD ASSOCIATES LTD v MONNERY [2019] NZHC 2151

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2151
Court

High Court

Convendium proved an overdrawn shareholders' current account to at least $512,346.73 by reliance on signed pre‑liquidation accounts, tax returns and identifiable bank payments; s301 was inapplicable to this ordinary debt claim; the defendants' assertions about agreed salary/drawings and related litigation did not disclose an arguable defence or justify withholding summary judgment; judgment entered for Convendium with interest from the liquidators' demand date.
13 Jun 2019

BARWICK v KOENEN [2019] NZHC 1341

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1341
Court

High Court

Defendant had no arguable defence to the plaintiff's claim to enforce the s21A agreement as drafted; a code compliance certificate is required to market/sell the property consistent with standard sale warranties, therefore the court ordered specific implementation steps limited to obtaining the CCC by engaging Percival Builders Ltd with interim payment arrangements and ordered defendant to pay an outstanding legal bill of $924.45; other proposed variations or non-essential works were not ordered.
16 Apr 2019

MARK ROBERT SANDMAN v COLIN CHARLES McKAY, ROGER DAVID CANN AND DAVID JOHN CLARK (as partners of Wilson McKay) [2019] NZSC 41

Citation

[2019] 1 NZLR 519
Court

Supreme Court

Majority: Appeal dismissed and summary judgment for the respondent firm affirmed. The contemporaneous record, including a medical certificate, independent solicitor's certification and detailed solicitor file evidence, rebutted any arguable case of dishonesty or wilful blindness by the firm in preparing and executing the 2010 will; the pleaded case failed to show an actionable breach of fiduciary duty by the attorneys tied to the enduring powers that the firm dishonestly assisted. Further, the appellant lacked sufficient proprietary/beneficiary interest to sustain an accessory liability claim…
24 Jul 2018

FBB HOLDINGS LIMITED (in liquidation) v MCGRATH [2018] NZHC 1786

Citation

[2018] NZHC 1786
Court

High Court

The application for summary judgment was dismissed because the plaintiffs failed to discharge the burden of showing the defendant had no defence; there remained real doubt and uncertainty about the accuracy and completeness of the company's records as at the date of liquidation (records after 31 March 2015 unauthenticated and relevant material not produced) and the disputed adjustments could not be resolved on summary judgment without discovery.