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Employment Relations Act 2000

Institutions - Appeals

214A: Appeals to Supreme Court on question of law in exceptional circumstances

You could also call this:

“Sometimes, you can ask the highest court to look at a legal problem if it's really important”

If you’re unhappy with a court’s decision about your employment case, you can ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal. This means you think the court made a mistake about the law. You can only do this if the decision isn’t about understanding an employment agreement.

If the Supreme Court lets you appeal, they will look at the case again. They can agree with the original decision, change it a bit, or completely change it.

When you ask to appeal or start an appeal, it doesn’t stop the original decision from happening. But you can ask the court or Supreme Court to pause things if you need to.

Remember, you can only appeal directly to the Supreme Court in special situations. The Supreme Court has to think there’s a really good reason to skip the Court of Appeal and go straight to them.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM61429.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Courts and legal help
Work and jobs > Worker rights
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“Sometimes, the higher court can ask the lower court to take another look at a case instead of making a final decision.”

Part 10 Institutions
Appeals

214AAppeals to Supreme Court on question of law in exceptional circumstances

  1. A party to a proceeding under this Act who is dissatisfied with a decision of the court (other than a decision on the construction of an individual employment agreement or a collective employment agreement) as being wrong in law may, with the leave of the Supreme Court, appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision.

  2. In its determination of the appeal, the Supreme Court may confirm, modify, or reverse the decision appealed against or any part of that decision.

  3. Neither an application for leave to appeal nor an appeal operates as a stay of proceedings on the decision to which the application or the appeal relates unless the court or the Supreme Court so orders.

  4. This section is subject to section 75 of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (which provides that the Supreme Court must not give leave to appeal directly to it against a decision made in a court other than the Court of Appeal unless it is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances that justify taking the proposed appeal directly to the Supreme Court).

Notes
  • Section 214A: inserted, on , by section 48(1) of the Supreme Court Act 2003 (2003 No 53).
  • Section 214A(4): amended, on , by section 183(b) of the Senior Courts Act 2016 (2016 No 48).