2016
Appeal comprehensively clarifies prospectus liability (published on 29 November 2016) The Court of Appeal recently reviewed important aspects of liability under New Zealand securities legislation. Houghton v Sanders and Ors ([2016] NZCA 493) was an unsucce...
Cloud storage operator ordered to disclose user details for use in foreign proceeding (published on 1 March 2016) The High Court recently ordered an internet cloud storage company to disclose user information to Kazakhstan for use in a US proceeding. The judgment provides a useful ov...
Court of Appeal upholds Waitemata District Health Board smoking ban (published on 22 August 2016) In B v Waitemata District Health Board, the High Court upheld the lawfulness of a policy banning smoking on all properties owned or controlled by the Waitemata District H...
Journalistic Privilege upheld as police warrant and search ruled unlawful (published on 23 February 2016) In 2015 the High Court ruled in Hager v Attorney-General that a police warrant to search a journalist's house, and consequently the search itself, was unlawful.(1) Th...
Blanket approach insufficient under official information legislation (published on 17 February 2016) Holders of official information are not justified in taking a blanket approach when responding to requests for official information, the New Zealand High Court has ruled....
Attempts to re-register overseas financial service providers run into confusion (published on 31 January 2016) Two High Court decisions towards the end of 2015 delivered conflicting results on the ability of New Zealand's main financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authori...
Extent of lease obligations for remediation of contamination (published on 20 January 2016) The Court of Appeal has held Mobil Oil NZ Ltd liable for the cost of remedying hydrocarbon contamination of land that it has occupied since 1925.(1) The issue before the...
2015
Wilson Harle is awarded the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Specialist Law Firm of the Year at the NZ Law Awards 2015 Wilson Harle has been selected by an independent panel of judges as the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Specialist Firm of the Year for the second consecutive year at the...
Earthquake insurance: problems of successive events and allocation of loss (published on 27 October 2015) In 2010 and 2011 the Canterbury region of New Zealand suffered several major earthquakes, resulting in severe destruction. The most devastating quake in February 2011 cau...
Government Procurement Rules used to set aside Ministry's Procurement Decision (published on 20 October 2015) Since 2006, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has promulgated rules for government procurement decision making. The rules have been imposed on governme...
Supreme Court clarifies effect of Arbitration Agreements (published on 28 July 2015) Article 8 provides that, where proceedings are brought in New Zealand in a matter that is subject to an arbitration agreement, the court will stay the matter unless it fi...
Lawyer negligence in property deals - appeal courts confirm causation test (published on 16 June 2015) Two recent cases from New Zealand's senior appellate courts have confirmed and restated the test for liability of lawyers who negligently advise on property transacti...
Unravelling trust assets - trustee powers deemed relationship property (published on 29 April 2015) When a marriage or relationship breaks down and there are significant assets in trust structures, bitter disputes and attempts to access those trusts can result. The issu...
Supreme Court and Parliament ease restrictions on awards of interest on court claims (published on 7 April 2015) An award of interest by the court on top of a proved sum of damages or debt owed can be a significant sum of money, especially if the case has taken a long time to get to...
