The Short Title of this Act is “The Court of Appeal Act, 1882.”

In the construction of this Act, unless there is anything in the subject or context repugnant thereto, the several words mentioned in clause two of “The Supreme Court Act, 1882,” shall have and include the same meanings as in that Act, and the term “inferior Court” in this Act shall mean and include all Courts of judicature within the colony of inferior jurisdiction to the Supreme Court.

There shall be a Court of record in the colony, which shall be called the Court of Appeal of New Zealand.

The Judges of the Supreme Court of the said colony for the time being shall be the Judges of the Court of Appeal.

Any two or more of the said Judges shall have power to act as the Court of Appeal, provided that two Judges at least shall concur in every decision of such Court.

The judgment of the Court shall be in accordance with the opinion of the majority of the Judges present. The Chief Justice, or in his absence the senior Judge, shall preside in the said Court.

If the Judges present shall be equally divided in opinion, the judgment, decree, or order appealed from or under review shall be deemed to be affirmed.

The Court shall hold its sittings at such times and places as shall be from time to time fixed by the Governor in Council, and proclaimed in the Government Gazette twenty-one days at least before the times so fixed respectively.

The Court shall have power to adjourn its sittings from time to time till such time and to such place as to it shall seem fit.

Whenever, by reason of the absence of all or any one or more of the Judges of the Court of Appeal at the time appointed for the sitting of the said Court, or any adjournment thereof, it shall be necessary to adjourn the sitting of the said Court to a future day, it shall be lawful for any one or more of the Judges of the said Court at the time appointed for such sitting, or at the time of any adjournment thereof, or for the Registrar of the said Court in case none of the Judges thereof shall be present, to adjourn or further adjourn such sitting to such future day and hour as such Judge or Judges or such Registrar shall think fit.

The Court of Appeal shall have power to remit any proceedings in any cause pending before it to the Supreme Court or a single Judge thereof.

All orders, judgments, and decrees of the Court of Appeal may be enforced by the Supreme Court as if they had been made by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court may by consent of the parties order the removal into the Court of Appeal of the following proceedings, that is to say,—

Any rule nisi granted;

Any notice of motion made;

Any petition presented;

Any special case stated;

Any question of law ordered to be argued;

Facts stated by a jury that has not found for either party: and on removal the Court of Appeal shall have the same power to adjudicate on the proceedings as the Supreme Court had.

On the removal of any case from the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal under section thirteen of this Act, the decision of the Court of Appeal shall be final as regards the tribunals of the colony, and the same judgment shall be entered up in the Supreme Court, and the same execution and other consequences and proceedings shall follow thereon, as if the decision had been given in the Supreme Court: Provided that the Court of Appeal may give leave to either party to appeal to the Privy Council.

The said Court of Appeal shall have jurisdiction and power to hear and determine appeals from any judgment, decree, or order, save as hereinafter mentioned, of the Supreme Court, subject to the provisions of this Act, and to such rules and orders for regulating the terms and conditions on which such appeals shall be allowed as may be made pursuant to this Act.

The determination of the Supreme Court on appeals from inferior Courts shall be final unless leave to appeal from the same to the Court of Appeal shall be given.

If either party in any cause in any inferior Court having extended jurisdiction shall be dissatisfied with the determination or direction of the Court in point of law, or upon the admission or rejection of any evidence, and shall intimate the same and state the ground or grounds of dissatisfaction to the Judge of the said Court either at the hearing of the cause or within six days after such determination or direction, and the Judge shall certify under his hand such ground or grounds of dissatisfaction, and that such ground or grounds seem in his opinion to involve some question of law of considerable difficulty or great importance, the party so dissatisfied may appeal directly to the Court of Appeal; and on notice of such appeal and of such certificate and grounds being given to the other party or his solicitor, and also on security being given, such proceedings shall be had, such case stated and settled, and such judgment or order shall be made by the said Court of Appeal, as if the said appeal had been made to the Supreme Court; and the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the said appeal shall be final.

When any bill of indictment has been found in the Supreme Court or at a Circuit Court thereof, or any inquisition has been found, or any criminal information been granted against any person for any crime or misdemeanour, if it shall be made to appear to the Supreme Court on affidavit on the part of the accused or of the prosecutor that the case is one of extraordinary importance or difficulty, and that it is desirable that it should be tried before the Judges at bar, the Supreme Court may grant a rule nisi, and, if no sufficient cause be shown, may make the same absolute for the removal of such indictment, inquisition, or information, and the proceedings thereon, into the Court of Appeal, and for the trial of the same at bar at the next or other sitting of such Court of Appeal, and may direct that a special or common jury, as the Supreme Court shall think fit, be summoned from the judicial district in which the alleged offence was committed or the accused was apprehended, or from the judicial district in which such sitting of the Court of Appeal shall take place (or from some other judicial district if sufficient reason be shown to the Court), to serve upon such trial; and such proceedings, as nearly as may be, shall thereupon be had as upon a trial at bar in England; and the said Court of Appeal shall have the same jurisdiction, authority, and power in respect thereof as the Queen’s Bench Division of Her Majesty’s High Court of Justice has in England in respect of a trial at bar.

Any party aggrieved by the judgment of the Supreme Court on any conviction or order removed into such Court or on appeal against any such order may appeal to the Court of Appeal, and the same proceedings shall be taken for the transmission of the documents into such last-mentioned Court, and for the hearing and determining of such appeal, as in civil cases, and the said Court of Appeal shall have power to give such judgment upon such appeal as the said Supreme Court might have done, besides judgment for the costs of the appeal.

When any person shall have been convicted of any treason, felony, or misdemeanour, before any Court presided over by a Judge of the Supreme Court, such Judge may in his discretion reserve any question of law which shall have arisen on the trial, or within thirty days thereafter, for the consideration of the Court of Appeal, and thereupon he shall have authority to respite execution of the judgment on such conviction, or postpone the judgment until such question shall have been considered and decided, as he may think fit; and in either case the Court in its discretion shall commit the person convicted to prison, or shall take a recognizance of bail with one or two sufficient sureties, and in such sum as the Court shall think fit, conditioned to appear at such time as the Court shall direct, and receive judgment, or to render himself in execution as the case may be.

The Court of Appeal shall have full power and authority to hear and finally determine every such question of law as last mentioned, and thereupon to reverse, affirm, or amend any judgment which shall have been given on the indictment, information, or inquisition on the trial whereof such question has arisen, or to avoid any such judgment, and to order an entry to be made on the record that, in the judgment of the said Court of Appeal, the party convicted ought not to have been convicted, or to arrest the judgment, or to order judgment to be given thereon at the next sittings of the Court in which the case was tried if no judgment shall have been given before that time, as it shall be advised, or to make such other order as justice may require; and such judgment and order, if any, of the said Court of Appeal shall be certified under the hand of the presiding Judge to the Registrar or other proper officer of the Court in which the case was tried, who shall enter the same on the record in proper form: and a certificate of such entry under the hand of such Registrar or officer shall be delivered or transmitted by him to the gaoler in whose custody the person convicted shall be, if he has not been admitted to bail, or to whose custody he ought to be committed if the conviction should be affirmed, and, if the judgment shall have been reversed, avoided, or arrested, such certificate shall be a sufficient warrant to the said gaoler to discharge the person so convicted, if in custody, out of his custody; or, if the person convicted shall have been admitted to bail, the Court or Judge which shall have so admitted him shall, on the production of such certificate, vacate the recognizances of bail; and, if the judgment shall have been affirmed, or so altered that execution is to follow thereon against the party convicted, such certificate shall be sufficient warrant to such gaoler as aforesaid to execute and carry out such judgment so affirmed or so altered as aforesaid; and, if the Court of Appeal shall direct the Court before whom such person was convicted to give judgment, then such last-mentioned Court shall at its next sittings, on the production of such certificate, proceed to give judgment accordingly.

On the hearing of any question so reserved as last aforesaid the Court of Appeal shall hear the party convicted and the party prosecuting, or their counsel, or either of them, if they or either of them appear; and shall pronounce judgment in open Court, whether the parties or either of them have appeared, in person or by counsel, or not.

In case the Judge of any inferior Court shall have reserved any question of law for the opinion of the Supreme Court, the Judge of the Supreme Court before whom such question shall be brought may, if he think fit, reserve the same for the consideration and determination of the Court of Appeal; and the same proceedings, so far as they are applicable, shall thereupon be had as if the question had been reserved by the Judge of the Supreme Court at a sitting of the Circuit Court before him: Provided that in every such case the said Court of Appeal, on hearing and determining such question, shall direct the Judge of the inferior Court to give judgment at his next sittings, and he then shall give judgment pursuant to the determination of the Court of Appeal thereon.

Subject to the power of revocation and alteration hereinafter contained, the practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal shall be regulated by the rules contained in the Schedule hereto, except only in those matters as to which any other practice and procedure is provided by this Act.

It shall be lawful for the Judges of the Court of Appeal, or any three of them, from time to time, by other rules to be made for that purpose, to alter or revoke the said rules or any of them, or any other rules which may hereafter be in force; and also from time to time to make such additional rules touching the practice and procedure of the Court in all causes and matters within the jurisdiction of the Court as the Judges may deem advisable, and all rules so made or altered shall have the same force and effect as if they had been inserted in the Schedule to this Act.

The Governor may from time to time appoint such Registrars, Deputy-Registrar, ushers, clerks, criers, and other officers as may be required for the conduct of the business of the Court, who shall severally hold office during the Governor’s pleasure, provided that, until such appointment by the Governor, it shall be competent for any Registrar, Deputy-Registrar, usher, clerk, crier, or other officer for the time being of the Supreme Court to act in the like capacity within his district in the Court of Appeal.

All such Registrars and other officers as in the last section mentioned shall have in respect of such Court of Appeal such powers and duties as the said Court of Appeal shall prescribe by rules made under the provisions of this Act.

The Court shall have in the custody of the Registrar or Deputy-Registrar a seal for the sealing of writs, orders, decrees, office copies, certificates, reports, and other instruments issued by such Registrar and requiring to be sealed.

The Judges of the Court of Appeal, or any three of them, shall have power from time to time, with the consent of the Governor in Council, to settle a scale of fees, and with such approval as aforesaid to alter such scale, and all fees payable under this Act shall be taken and deemed to be fees of the Supreme Court. Until a scale has been settled, the fees for proceedings in the Court of Appeal shall be the same as those in the Supreme Court in respect of similar proceedings.

This Act shall come into operation on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three.

“The Court of Appeal Act, 1862,” and “The Court of Appeal Act Amendment Act, 1870,” are hereby repealed; but this repeal shall not affect proceedings pending or incomplete under the said Acts, or either of them, and such proceedings may be carried on and completed as if this Act had not been passed.