New Zealand Edition (3 November 2026)

Send us Fan Mail The Petal's New Zealand edition for Tuesday 3 November 2026 carries 10 decisions newly reported from the Supreme Court and the High Court. Seven are aired at depth and three in the registry. The thread is that what goes on the table stays there: an admission that cannot be unmade while the advice behind it stays privileged, costs a non-party can claim if it shows its working, a loan that buys no seat without security, and a confession that should have been recorded when it counted. Practice and Procedure Desk (lead). Financial Markets Authority (Formerly Commerce Commission) v Second Chance Finance Limited [2026] NZHC 3321 - leave to withdraw an admission under r 15.16(2) of the High Court Rules 2016 is a discretion exercised in the interests of justice and needs a reasoned case, not a change of mind (Bridgecorp applied); where withdrawal rests on allegedly inadequate legal advice, the Court will not accept the applicant's untested account while privilege over that advice is withheld; prejudice to the regulator and borrowers, time-barred abandoned claims and delay weighed against leave, and granting it would undermine regulators' willingness to settle. Application declined; the penalty hearing is to come (Wilkinson-Smith J, 23 October 2026). JADE Lun v Kong [2026] NZHC 3294 - a non-party is entitled to its actual reasonable costs, usually in full, of both the application and compliance (rr 8.21, 8.22(3)); an unopposed application still requires reasonable attendances; global invoices without a narrative of steps, hours and disbursements cannot be assessed, so an interim payment, security in a solicitor's trust account on undertakings and a single final determination were ordered (Associate Judge Wild, 21 October 2026). JADE Commercial Law Desk . Scott v Bourke [2026] NZHC 3179 - joinder under r 4.56(1)(b) is a two-stage inquiry needing at least a tenable claim to rights directly affected by the orders; a mere creditor's interest is not enough; orders under ss 339 and 343 of the Property Law Act 2007 cannot direct payment to an unsecured creditor; trustees of a bare trust cannot prefer one beneficiary over another. Joinder declined (Associate Judge Wroe, 15 October 2026). JADE AE Logistics Ltd v Sylvia Park Business Centre Ltd [2026] NZHC 3257 - where a lease validly excludes the covenants implied by sch 3 of the Property Law Act 2007 (s 279), there is no arguable sch 3 abatement claim; transitory interference does not make premises untenantable; a counterclaim needs evidence of duty, breach and loss; a no set-off clause answered set-off against rent. Application to set aside the statutory demand (s 290(4) Companies Act 1993) dismissed (Associate Judge Wroe, 21 October 2026). JADE Criminal Law Desk . R v Tukaokao [2026] NZHC 2740 - police may question a person advised to stay silent if the person knows their rights and there is no bad faith, oppression or overbearing conduct; cognitive impairment does not make questioning unfair where rights are understood and real choices made; the right to a lawyer is waived where an offered call is knowingly declined; isolated appeals to conscience are not improper; an unrecorded admission in breach of r 5 of the Practice Note on police questioning was improperly obtained, but exclusion was disproportionate under s 30 of the Evidence Act 2006. Statements held admissible (MacGillivray J, 9 September 2026). JADE B (SC 77/2026) v The King [2026] NZSC 168 - reported as legal doctrine only. Where evidence of a complainant's