The New Zealand Supreme Court Database (NZSCD) will serve as a definitive source for researchers, students, journalists, and citizens interested in the Supreme Court and its work. The Database contains variables about every substantive decision of the Court between 2004 and 2026. Examples include the parties to the case, the routes by which cases reach the Court, the legal issues raised, the outcomes, and the composition of the bench. On this site, users will be able to browse the dataset, download the complete dataset, and read the codebook. Everything is free to use.
The Supreme Court of New Zealand, Te Kōti Mana Nui o Aotearoa, was established in 2004, replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as New Zealand's court of last resort.
The Database makes it possible to ask the questions scholars of other apex courts have long been able to answer with evidence. What kinds of cases reach the Court, and which does it agree to hear? Who wins and who loses, and does that vary by the type of litigant or the area of law? How often do the justices divide, and along what lines? How has the Court's agenda changed over time?
The codebook will be published alongside the data, with a description and the possible values for each variable.
The dataset will be released under a Creative Commons license.
The New Zealand Supreme Court Database is supported by the Edward A. Clark Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies and the Steve and Susan West Fund for New Zealand Studies at The University of Texas at Austin.
Version and release numbers will be assigned with the first release in 2027. Each release carries its own version and release number, so that published work can point to the exact data used. Please cite the version you worked with rather than the site as a whole.