New Zealand. Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal of New Zealand is the country’s principal intermediate appellate court. It has existed as a separate court since 1862, though for much of its early history it was made up of Supreme Court, later High Court, judges sitting periodically rather than as a permanent bench.

A major turning point came in 1958, when a permanent Court of Appeal began sitting with dedicated appellate judges. That change is widely treated as an important milestone in the development of New Zealand law, helping the court build a stronger and more consistent body of case law.

Today, the court hears civil and criminal appeals and, in practice, resolves most appeals before they ever reach the Supreme Court. Over time it has played a central role in defining modern New Zealand jurisprudence and in expressing a more distinctly New Zealand approach to the law.