Supreme Court of New Zealand

Supreme Court of New Zealand
Te Kōti Mana Nui (Māori)
Coat of arms of New Zealand
Entrance to Supreme Court building in Wellington
Established	1 January 2004
Jurisdiction	New Zealand
Location	85 Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand
Composition method	Appointed by the Governor-General on behalf of King Charles III on the advice of the Prime Minister (Chief Justice) and Attorney-General (Justices)
Authorized by	Senior Courts Act 2016
Judge term length	Retire at age of 70 years (Senior Courts Act 2016, s 133)
Number of positions	6
Website	www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/the-courts/supreme-court/
Chief Justice
Currently	Dame Helen Winkelmann
Since	14 March 2019

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The Supreme Court of New Zealand (Māori: Te Kōti Mana Nui, lit. 'Court of Great Mana') is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, based in London. It was created with the passing of the Supreme Court Act 2003, on 15 October 2003. At the time, the creation of the Supreme Court and the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council were controversial constitutional changes in New Zealand. The Supreme Court Act 2003 was repealed on 1 March 2017 and superseded by the Senior Courts Act 2016.

The current Supreme Court should not be confused with the High Court of New Zealand, which was known as the Supreme Court until 1980. The High Court, New Zealand’s superior court, was established in 1841 as the “Supreme Court of New Zealand”. Its name was changed in anticipation of the eventual creation of this final court of appeal within New Zealand.