Cameron Miranda
Case law in New Zealand is a body of law that encompasses a wide range of legal areas, including business, employment, insurance, property, and tax law. It is primarily comprised of decisions made by the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, District Court, and various specialist courts and tribunals. These decisions are typically published in authorised report series, such as the New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR), which is recognised as the country's official law report series. The NZLR includes rulings from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court, as well as historical cases dating back to the 19th century. Other sources of case law include online databases such as NZLII, Westlaw NZ, and Lexis Advance, which provide access to full-text decisions, unreported cases, and a variety of legal resources.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Official law report series | The New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) |
| Coverage | Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, District Court, Employment Court, Environment Court, Maori Appellate Court, Maori Land Court, Coroners Court, Youth Court, New Zealand Refugee Status Appeals Authority (NZRSAA) |
| Sources | Westlaw NZ, CCH, LexisNexis NZ, NZLII, Judicial Decisions Online, BriefCase, LinxPlus, Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, Lexis+ Australia, District Court Reports, New Zealand Family Law Reports (NZFLR), New Zealand Administrative Reports (NZAR) |
| Case entries include | Case details (name, date decided, judges, court and citation), parallel citations, CaseBase signals, list of cases that have subsequently considered the case, list of cases considered in the case, judicially considered words and phrases, catchwords, digests, articles considering the case |
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What You'll Learn
Case law sources
The New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) is New Zealand's official law report series. They can be found in print in the Law Library: Law KG341 N4. Other New Zealand report series deal with cases on a particular area of law and can be found in print via the library catalogue or by browsing at and around Law KG 342. They can also be found online, via WestlawNZ, CCH, or LexisNexis NZ.
NZLII (New Zealand Legal Information Institute) is a valuable source of full-text case law. It includes Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court decisions from at least 2005, as well as a lot of decisions from tribunals and authorities. It is a free resource.
The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations is a tool that helps to decipher legal abbreviations used to cite the report series.
BriefCase is a comprehensive index of more than 180,000 cases sourced from a variety of courts and tribunals. Each entry provides a case summary, legislation cited, cases cited, and classification terms.
The New Zealand's Lost Cases project involves the systematic search for, and collation of, early New Zealand cases. These cases exist, not in law reports, but in newspapers, manuscript collections, archives, and judges' notebooks. The project is primarily concerned with decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal up until 1883 and the Native Land Court, 1863-1895. There are two searchable databases: the Source Database, which shows where court records can be found around New Zealand for the period 1840-1883, and the Case Database, which provides a record of all cases heard by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in the period 1842-1869.
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Case law history
Case law in New Zealand has a long and complex history, dating back to the early days of the country's legal system. The New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) is the country's official law report series, starting in 1881, with complete sets deemed to start in 1861, including prior series such as the Macassey Reports and New Zealand Court of Appeal Cases.
The NZLR covers all significant developments in New Zealand case law and is the only authorised law report series in the country. It includes decisions from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court. The Supreme Court Judgments, which can be accessed online, contain cases from 2004 onwards, while the Court of Appeal and High Court Judgments offer access to decisions from 2003.
New Zealand's legal history also includes the Native Land Court, with judgments available from 1993, and the Maori Land Court, with cases dating back to 1948. The District Court of New Zealand, which handles civil, criminal, youth, and family matters, has been publishing a selection of judgments since 2016.
The country's legal system also provides access to an extensive collection of freely available New Zealand judgments, including specialist courts and tribunals. The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations is a valuable tool for deciphering legal abbreviations used in case law. Additionally, the New Zealand Lost Cases project aims to collate early New Zealand cases from sources like newspapers, archives, and judges' notebooks, shedding light on forgotten legal decisions.
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Case law databases
Case law in New Zealand can be accessed through various databases, some of which are free and some of which are subscription-based.
NZLII (New Zealand Legal Information Institute)
NZLII is a free, full-text database of decisions from New Zealand's Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court, as well as a range of tribunal decisions. It includes Supreme Court decisions from 2004, Court of Appeal decisions from 1888, and High Court decisions from 1847.
Westlaw NZ
Westlaw NZ is a subscription database that includes a range of case law content, such as Commercial Cases (TCLR), Criminal Cases (CRNZ), Employment Cases (ERNZ), Environment & Resources Cases (ELRNZ), and Family Cases (FRNZ).
Lexis Advance
Lexis Advance is another subscription database that hosts the NZ Law Society's Linxplus database, which includes PDFs of cases. It also has content from the Maori Land Court up until 2003, which is only available at the Wellington HC Library.
BriefCase
BriefCase is a comprehensive index of more than 180,000 cases from a variety of courts and tribunals. Each entry provides a summary, legislation cited, cases cited, and classification terms.
Thomson Reuters NZ
Thomson Reuters NZ offers online case law databases with over 160,000 individual cases spanning 30+ topic-themed collections. It includes searchable, regularly updated case summaries, judgment texts, and PDFs sourced from New Zealand courts and authorities.
Other Databases
Other databases mentioned include the Unreported Judgments Index, the New Zealand Case Citator, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations, which helps decipher legal abbreviations used in report series. Additionally, the University of Otago's library website provides access to an index of NZ case law, with basic information on selected cases from 1847 and comprehensive coverage from 2000.
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Case law jurisdictions
Case law in New Zealand is part of the common law or Anglo-American legal tradition. There is a hierarchy of courts of ordinary jurisdiction, supplemented by a number of courts and tribunals with special jurisdictions.
The Supreme Court of New Zealand was established in 2004. Decisions from the Supreme Court can be accessed via the Judicial Decisions Online, which includes cases from 2003, and the New Zealand Legal Information Institute (NZLII), which has a full-text database of decisions from 2004. The Supreme Court also has a section on its official website called "Supreme Court Judgments of Public Interest", which includes decisions from the previous 90 days.
The Court of Appeal is another court of ordinary jurisdiction. Its decisions can be accessed via the Court of Appeal Judgments of Public Interest, which remain available for 90 days, and Judicial Decisions Online, which includes cases from 2003.
The High Court is a court of special jurisdiction. Decisions from the High Court can be accessed via the High Court Judgments of Public Interest, which remain available for 90 days, and Judicial Decisions Online, which includes cases from 2003.
The District Court of New Zealand is another court of special jurisdiction, dealing with approximately 200,000 criminal, family, youth, and civil matters each year. Decisions from a representative sample of these cases can be found on the District Court website.
In addition to these courts of ordinary and special jurisdiction, there are also specialist courts and tribunals in New Zealand, such as the Maori Land Court and the Native Land Court. Decisions from these courts can be found through various databases, such as Westlaw NZ and Lexis Advance.
New Zealand case law can also be accessed through international databases such as Lexis+, which includes primary and secondary legal materials from the UK, EU, USA, and many other jurisdictions. vLex Justis is another source, offering access to law reports, transcripts, and legislation from several countries, including New Zealand.
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Case law reporting
Other report series focus on specific areas of law, such as family law, employment, and magistrate court decisions. These topical reports are available through free and subscription-based databases. For example, the District Court Reports, New Zealand Family Law Reports (NZFLR), and New Zealand Administrative Reports (NZAR) can be accessed on Lexis+ Australia, providing a selection of important civil and criminal cases.
Online databases such as Westlaw NZ, NZLII, and BriefCase are valuable tools for searching and accessing case law. NZLII, a free resource, offers full-text case law, including Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, and High Court decisions from 2005, as well as tribunal rulings. BriefCase, on the other hand, provides comprehensive summaries of over 180,000 cases from various courts and tribunals, along with relevant legislation and citations.
For historical cases, print sources and law report indexes are often necessary. The New Zealand Lost Cases project, for instance, involves searching for early New Zealand cases in newspapers, archives, and judges' notebooks, shedding light on decisions that were not formally reported. Additionally, the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations is a useful tool for deciphering legal abbreviations used in reported cases, aiding in the search process.
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Frequently asked questions
Case law in New Zealand is a body of law that consists of past decisions by courts and tribunals that can be used as precedents in future cases.
There are several sources where you can find case law in New Zealand, including online databases such as NZLII, Westlaw NZ, Judicial Decisions Online, and print sources like the New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR).
To search for case law in New Zealand, you can use tools such as BriefCase, which provides a comprehensive index of cases, or Linx and Linx Plus, which offer various search options. You can also use print law report indexes to find recent and historical cases.
New Zealand's case law covers a wide range of areas, including employment, family, human rights, criminal, commercial, and Maori land cases, among others. It includes decisions from various courts, such as the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and District Court.
