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FAQs

What am I buying?

You are buying a perpetual licence to a specific New Zealand Law Report, downloadable in PDF format from My Account.

 What does a judgment contain?

A judgment usually has a general format of:

  • Outlining the relief sought (what they want done to resolve the matter)
  • Identifying the various issues involved
  • Stating the uncontested facts
  • Making findings to the disputed material facts
  • Discussing the relevant law
  • Applying the law to the facts
  • Making a decision and stating the orders to be carried out (remedy) 

 It also contains:

  • Names of solicitors/Legal Counsel which represented the parties
  • Initials or name of reporter who wrote the catchwords and headnote

 What does the official NZLR case contain?

  • Name of the Court
  • Name of the parties
  • Catchwords:
    • Summary of the subject matter of the case
    • The key issues or facts involved
    • Any relevant legislation
  • Headnote:
    • Fuller summary of the facts
    • Decision in the case
    • Notes on particular cases that were applied, distinguished, discussed or merely referred to in the judgment
  • Catchwords and headnotes are prepared by the legal publisher and do not form part of the judgement itself
  • How the case came before the court (statement of claim, proceedings and orders)
  • Note about who represented the parties (barrister, possibly solicitor)
  • Cases cited
  • Judgement extempore (same day as hearing) or reserved judgment (later date)
  • Orders

 Why would I use this site?

New Zealand Law Reports (NZLR) is the official report series of New Zealand. It includes decisions of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Court of Appeal and High Court. NZLR maintains a high standard of accuracy (99.9%). All Supreme Court decisions are reported, and are approved by the Supreme Court Bench prior to publication. Supreme Court decisions are reported with counsels' arguments (NZLR is the only report series to provide this).

 How do I find out what I need?

You should have done research / received legal advice before using this website to purchase your court-ready version of the law report.

You can obtain information at:

Use of the "search” box on this site is restricted to the following search criteria:

  • NZLR citation
  • Case name
  • File number/ Medium Neutral Citation
  • Judgment date

Any term you enter that does not match the search criteria will be ignored and you will receive the closest matched results instead.

You can also browse by Court name, by clicking on any of the Courts at the bottom of the page.

Returns policy

Please check that you have selected the right case - all purchases are final and non-refundable.

What if I buy a case I didn't intend to buy?

Please check that you have selected the right case - all purchases are final and non-refundable.

How to download

You can download any previously purchased report by ensuring you are signed in to the site, and clicking on Completed Orders in My Account.

Click on Download Files next to the report you wish to download. 

Your file will be made available for download on the next page; simply click on the PDF name and it will download to your computer or device. You will need a PDF viewer to be able to view and print the document.

What do I do if I have problems downloading my purchase?

Please see How to download. For any technical issues, see Support Queries below.

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