3.4 UNREPORTED CASES

When citing an unreported decision of a court or tribunal, use the official neutral citation if one is available.

If an official neutral citation is not available, cite in accordance with the file number citation format explained below. Note that the file number citation format varies depending on whether the decision being cited is one given by a court or tribunal with a single registry (for example the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal) or a court or tribunal with multiple registries (for example the High Court or District Courts).

Note that Waitangi Tribunal reports should be cited in accordance with rule 3.6.

Element	Case name	Court abbreviation	Registry	File number	Date of judgment	Pinpoint
Example (single registry)	R v Reekie			CA339/03,	3 August 2004	at [35]
Example (multiple registries)	R v Tuhou	HC	Napier	CRI-2007-020-2820,	11 September 2008	at [13]
Rule	3.4.2	3.4.3	3.4.4	3.4.5	3.4.6	3.4.2

Cite decisions of tribunals without an official neutral citation in accordance with this rule.

3.4.1 When to use

(a) Supreme Court

Supreme Court judgments delivered in 2004 were not given neutral citations. Cite them in accordance with this rule.

(b) Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal judgments delivered before 2007 were not given neutral citations. Cite them in accordance with this rule.

(c) High Court

High Court judgments delivered before 2012 were not given neutral citations. Cite them in accordance with this rule.

(d) District Court

District Court judgments delivered before 2015 and accident compensation appeals in the District Court before 2010 were not given neutral citations. Cite them in accordance with this rule.

(e) Other courts and tribunals

See rules 3.3.3(b) and 3.3.3(c) for the years in which other courts and tribunals adopted neutral citations.

3.4.2 Case name and pinpoint reference

Give the case name and pinpoint reference in accordance with the relevant rules for reported judgments: see rules 3.2.1 and 3.2.8.

3.4.3 Court abbreviation

(a) When to use

When citing unreported judgments from a court or tribunal with a single registry (for example the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal) it is not necessary to include a court abbreviation as the court will be obvious from the file number.

However, when citing unreported judgments from a court or tribunal with multiple registries (for example the High Court and District Courts) it is necessary to include a court abbreviation.

(b) Abbreviations

Use an abbreviation to identify the court or tribunal that decided the case. Use “HC” for the High Court, “DC” for the District Court and “FC” for the Family Court.

Appendix 1 contains a list of court identifiers for other New Zealand courts and tribunals.

3.4.4 Registry

(a) When to use

When citing unreported judgments from a court or tribunal with a single registry (for example the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal) it is not necessary to include the name of the registry as there is only one.

However, when citing unreported judgments from a court or tribunal with multiple registries (for example the High Court and District Courts) it is necessary to include the name of the registry.

(b) Full name

Identify the relevant court or tribunal registry by writing out the location in full. Do not use abbreviations.

3.4.5 File number

(a) Supreme Court

The format of Supreme Court file numbers for civil cases in 2004 was “SC CIV [case number]/2004”.

The format of Supreme Court file numbers for criminal cases in 2004 was “SC CRI [case number]/2004”.

(b) Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal uses the same file number format for both civil and criminal cases, namely “CA[case number]/[last two digits of the year the case was filed in]”. Do not use a space between “CA” and the file number and year.

Prior to 2007, the Court of Appeal used two different sets of file numbers, one for criminal appeals and one for civil. Accordingly, a criminal and civil case may share the same file number.

(c) High Court, District Court and Family Court: current format

Give the court file number after the registry abbreviation. The file number is followed by a comma to separate it from the date.

The current format for High Court, District Court and Family Court file numbers is CIV-year-XXX-XXXXXX for civil cases, CRI-year-XXX-XXXXXX for criminal cases and FAM-year-XXX-XXXXXX for family cases.

Separate each part of the registry number by a hyphen, even where the original judgment uses a space or runs the components together. The final part of the registry number may be up to six digits long. Omit any leading zeroes. For example, 001358 becomes 1358.

(d) Other formats

When citing an unreported judgment that uses a different file number format from those mentioned immediately above, give the file number as it appears on the original copy of the judgment, except that if the file number includes “no”, this should be removed. Do not include a space between any letters and numbers that make up the file number.

Before 1980 the High Court of New Zealand was called the Supreme Court of New Zealand. When citing a judgment of that Court use “SC” as the court abbreviation.

(e) Multiple numbers

Where a case has multiple file numbers, only include the first number in the citation.

(f) Comma

Include a comma after the file number to separate it from the date of judgment.

3.4.6 Date of judgment

The date of judgment follows the file number. Write the month out in full without abbreviations and give all four digits of the year.

Where judgment and reasons for judgment are given separately, give the date of judgment, not the date on which the reasons were subsequently given. This applies even where the judgment has later been recalled and reissued at a later date. If context requires, it may be necessary to state the date on which the reasons were given as well.

3.4.7 Minutes and rulings given during trial

Where it is necessary to cite a minute or a ruling given during the course of a trial, use the citation format for unreported cases but give the date of the minute or ruling as opposed to the date of the judgment, unless the Court has given the minute or ruling its own neutral citation.

In cases where it is necessary to distinguish between several minutes or rulings given on the same day or if it is not clear from context that the citation is to a minute or ruling and not a judgment, a brief description of the minute or ruling may be included after the date (and before any pinpoint reference) in round brackets.

3.4.8 Judge identifier

The name of the judge who decided the case is not part of the case citation.

However, where reference to the name of the judge or judges is deemed appropriate, give the name or names in accordance with rule 3.2.9.