IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW ZEALAND
SC 17/2008
[2008] NZSC 38
AHMAD ZANZOUL
v
THE QUEEN
Court: Elias CJ, Blanchard and Wilson JJ
Counsel: T Ellis for Applicant
K B F Hastie for Respondent
Judgment: 9 May 2008
JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (NAME SUPPRESSION)
The application for an order suppressing the applicant’s name and
identifying particulars is dismissed.
REASONS
[1] Some 17 months after the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal against
conviction the applicant has applied for leave to appeal against that decision. He has
also applied, apparently for the first time in the proceeding, for suppression of his
name and identifying particulars. Those details have in the intervening period been
published in connection with the Court of Appeal’s judgment and it may be that
there was earlier publication in relation to the trial and conviction in the District
Court.
[2] In these circumstances, notwithstanding the apprehension expressed by the
applicant, the futility of an order in the terms sought is apparent. Therefore, whether
or not an order would have been granted if application had been made to the Court of
Appeal at the time of its decision, the present application must be dismissed.
Solicitors:
Crown Law Office, Wellington