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-- Main.ChrisKenward - 12 June 2025

Help

12 June 2025 - 20:48 | Version 3 |

Downloading

Where available, use the [Download] link at the top of a document. This will provide a menu of download formats. Courts would prefer that you use the PDF version for Court.

Sometimes we may not have any downloadable versions of the case available - in this situation you can use your web browser's "File > Save as" function to download the online version of the case.

Excluded words - words not included in searches

A "common word" is a word that is so common that it is not indexed at all (eg "the", "and", "he", "she") and so is ignored in searches. This is the list of common words used by NZLII.

a: about after all also am an and any are at
b: be because been before being but
c: can could
d: did do does
e: ever
f: following for from
g: given
h: had hardly has have having he hence her here hereby herein hereof hereon hereto herewith him his however
i: if in into is it its
m: may me mr must my
n: no nor not
o: of on only onto or other our out
r: really
s: said shall she should so some such
t: than that the their them then there thereby therefore therefrom therein thereof thereon thereto therewith these they this those thus to too
u: unto up upon us
v: very viz
w: was we were what when where whereby wherein whether which who whom whose why with within would
y: you your

Common words are not indexed and so aren't searchable even if placed in double quotes. Including them in searches does no harm (they simply act as a place holder) however you may get unexpected search results if you are relying on their presence.

Getting started

Sometimes the easiest way to use NZLII is to have a browse or look around. Click on the bit on the front page that says XXX databases and it will take you to a page listing all the databases we have. If you want to get back to the front page, click on the NZLII logo in the top left corner.

Reordering search results

Results from a search come back by default by relevance - there is a percentage rating at the end of the document title in the listed search results which lets you know how relevant the result is likely to be.

NZLII Databases - Documents found: 5996 for (cat or feline)

Results per page: 10 20 50 100

Page 1 of: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | >>>

Databases selected:
Click on link to limit search to a specific database

  1. Bobcat in the name of Clark Equipment Company v Caterpillar Tractor Co. [1982] NZIPOTM 1 (2 August 1982) [100%]
    (From New Zealand Intellectual Property Office - Trade Marks; 2 August 1982; 142 KB) View LawCite record

  2. CAT Limited v ZEN Lawyers Limited [2021] NZLCRO 169 (28 October 2021) [90%]
    (From New Zealand Legal Complaints Review Officer; 28 October 2021; 63 KB) View LawCite record

  3. Cat -A-Rac [2011] NZLLA 255 (31 March 2011) [79%]
    (From New Zealand Liquor Licensing Authority; 31 March 2011; 9 KB) View LawCite record

  4. Cat Biscuit Dispenser Chairman's Ruling [1995] NZASA 235 (29 September 1995) [72%]
    (From New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority; 1 KB) View LawCite record

You can change the way these results are bought back - a common option to choose is By database

NZLII Databases - Documents found: 5996 for (cat or feline)

This makes it easier to look at results only from what you suspect would be relevant databases (eg here from the Court of Appeal)

Clicking on the 135 documents link in the Court of Appeal line will give you a relevance listing of cases with your search term just from the Court of Appeal

When you click on a case, use the context button to take you to incidences of your search term in the case

Database Search | Name Search | Recent Decisions | Noteup | LawCite | Download | Context | No Context | Help

Balfour v R [2013] NZCA 429 (13 September 2013)

(b) failing to ensure that the physical, health, and behavioural needs of no more than 161 cats were met (count 2); and

(c) ill-treating no more than 161 cats (count 4).

Clicking on the will take you to the next incident of your search term.

Searching

You can search NZLII using the search box on the front page.

You can search specific databases from the front page of any of the databases or from any case within that database -

Database Search | Name Search | Recent Decisions | Noteup | LawCite | Download | Help

You can also search from the dedicated search form

The search form allows you to choose to search over everything on NZLII or just all the cases, or all the legislative databases etc. All Primary Materials means all legislation and cases but not the Journals or "Other" databases. The arrow by Find using autosearch gives you a range of options of how to search including using the normal boolean operators. This allows you, for instance to specify bail AND NOT electronic (please note, most bail cases are not on NZLII due to suppression issues)

When you do a search, you are fundamentally searching for documents which contain some words or phrases. If you can come up with a phrase which you think is distinctive enough, just type it in and hit the return key.

If you want more than one phrase or word to appear in the retrieved documents, put an and between them. For example, to find documents containing the phrase "moral rights" as well as the word "copyright", you would type: "moral rights" and copyright.

If you want to find one term and/or another one, put an or between them. For example, to find documents that contain the words "treaty", "convention" or "international agreement" you would search for: treaty or convention or "international agreement".

If you want to find two words or phrases which appear close to each other (for example, the parties to a case), you can use the near connector. If you wanted to find cases where Smith sued (or was sued by) Brown, you might type: "smith near brown".

Searching for singular words will automatically search for plurals - so a search for Treaty will automatically search for Treaties.

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