11 How Cases Are Published

It is helpful to know how judgments are published in Aotearoa New Zealand when undertaking research in case law.

Which Courts Produce Written Decisions?

The higher-level courts usually produce written decisions, particularly the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court. The District Courts also produce written decisions on substantive issues. Matters heard in tribunals and authorities may not lead to a written decision. Many written decisions are not publicly available.

Jury trials do not necessarily result in a written decision; however, following the accused pleading guilty or the jury finding the accused guilty at trial, there will be a sentencing hearing. Many courts make these sentencing remarks available to the public.

Unreported and Reported Judgments

Almost all decisions, except those that are suppressed on the grounds of privacy or public interest, are initially published online on court websites, in legal databases or on NZLII as unreported judgments.^[1] These written decisions from the court are called “unreported” judgments because they have not been published in a law report series, that is, reported. From 2005, Aotearoa New Zealand courts began to adopt a standardised system of citation known as a “[medium] neutral citation” for unreported judgments. The Supreme Court has used neutral citations since 2005, with the other courts and tribunals adopting the convention in following years. See the New Zealand Law Style Guide rules 3.1(a) and 3.3.3(b)–(c) for details.

Judgments deemed to be significant are reported and published in law report series. These are called reported judgments or reported decisions. All substantive judgments from the Supreme Court are reported in the New Zealand Law Reports. Occasionally, a judgment may be reported in more than one series. To be reported, a judgment should do one or more of the following:^[2]

• raise significant points of law;
• introduce a new principle of law;
• significantly modify an existing principle of law;
• settle a question of law;
• apply an established principle in a new area;
• define or interpret legislation or legal terms or be particularly instructive.

Official Report Series

The New Zealand Law Reports, published by LexisNexis, is the official law report series for Aotearoa New Zealand. There are a number of other unofficial law reports too, usually specialising in a particular branch of law.

Which Version of the Judgment Should Be Used?

It is possible that a decision has been published multiple times. First, in unreported format, then sometimes in an unofficial law report series and finally in the official law report series. Vector Gas, an important contract-law case, exists in an unreported format from the Supreme Court and was reported (published) in the New Zealand Law Reports, the New Zealand Business Law Cases and the New Zealand Company and Commercial Law Reports. The latter two reports are unofficial report series and are referred to as parallel citations.

It is proper^[3] to cite the neutral reference and then the most official reported version. For example, Vector Gas Ltd v Bay of Plenty Energy Ltd [2010] NZSC 5, [2010] 2 NZLR 444.

Therefore it makes sense to use the most official version if it is available. Always cite the version you used!