2020
Cryptocurrencies as property In April 2020 the NZ High Court issued a decision determining the status of cryptocurrency as property.(1) The court held that cryptocurrency constitutes property at comm...
Contractual interpretation revisited In what may turn out to be a landmark decision in Bathurst Resources Ltd v L&M Coal Holdings Ltd ([2020] NZCA 113), the Court of Appeal has signalled a narrowing of the a...
Court of Appeal confirms right to cancel insurance contract for fraudulent claims A recent Court of Appeal decision highlights the consequences which flow from an insured providing dishonest information in support of an insurance claim.[1] It is the fi...
Contractual penalties: Supreme Court confirms New Zealand's adoption of recast penalty rule At first instance and then on appeal, the High Court and the Court of Appeal adopted a recast rule against contractual penalties, reflecting developments in England and A...
First judicial consideration of covid-19 decisions On 1 May 2020, the High Court issued a decision (1) on a judicial review application which challenged the lawfulness of exemption decisions made pursuant to an order unde...
Opting in or opting out: representative action Representative actions, New Zealand's version of class actions, are becoming increasingly frequent across the litigation landscape. In 2020 it seems that two separate...
Clear course charted through loss of a chance quagmire The civil standard of proof is well known to lawyers; claims must be proved on the balance of probabilities or, in other words, the thing in question must be more likely...
What constitutes 'hunt or kill'? Supreme Court's shark cage diving decision illustrates interpretation difficulties Contrary to media reports, the Supreme Court's recent decision in Shark Experience Ltd v PauaMAC5 Inc has expressly left the question of whether shark cage diving is...
2019
Supreme Court confirms that replacement cover rights are not assignable The policy also stated in Condition 2, under the heading "Insurance during sale and purchase", that:
Contractual penalties: Court of Appeal upholds High Court's decision in Honey Bees Honey Bees Preschool leased premises from 127 Hobson Street Limited to run a childcare facility. The lease was for six years, with three rights of renewal.
Diminution Not Required For Voidable Transactions In Robt. Jones Holdings Limited v McCullagh [2019] NZSC 86 the Supreme Court confirmed that the requirements outlined in s 294 Companies Act 1993 (“Act“”) are all that is...
Court costs when using employed lawyers – return to status quo ante In Commissioner of Inland Revenue v New Orleans Hotel (2011) Ltd, Associate Judge Matthews of the High Court held that a party represented by an employed lawyer was not e...
No jurisdiction without service: difficulties obtaining interim injunctions against offshore companies In a short judgment released on 18 February 2019 (Commerce Commission v Viagogo AG ([2019] NZHC 187)), the High Court dismissed an interim injunction against Viagogo AG f...
