Kim Dotcom's extradition case going to the Supreme Court

Kim Dotcom appearing in Auckland District Court in 2015. Photo / Nick Reed.

Kim Dotcom and his co-accused are allowed to take their fight against extradition to the Supreme Court.

That's despite the United States Government arguing New Zealand's highest court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case.

In a decision released this afternoon, Justice William Young said the Supreme Court had the jurisdiction for the appeals.

In a separate decision, Dotcom and his co-defendants - Mathias Ortmann, Finn Batato and Bram van der Kolk - have also been given leave to take their case to the Supreme Court.

People do not have an automatic right to go before the Supreme Court in the same way they do to appeal the decisions of lower courts. Instead, they must apply for permission to do so.

If the appeal to the Supreme Court fails, the final decision as to whether Dotcom and the other men will be extradited rests with Justice Minister Andrew Little.

Little said in July he will not predetermine his decision before any potential Supreme Court ruling.

A US grand jury indicted the group on February 6, 2012, over the now-defunct file-sharing website Megaupload, which allegedly shared pirated films and other media.

It has been called the "Mega conspiracy" after several companies allegedly facilitated, encouraged and profited from significant mass infringement of copyright.

The US has sought the men's extradition ever since.

The group lost their case in the North Shore District Court in 2015 and lost appeals to the High Court and the Court of Appeal.
In an FBI-ordered raid in 2012, police used the anti-terrorist Special Tactics Group in a helicopter assault on Dotcom's former Coatesville mansion.

The raid resulted in the 13 charges Dotcom and the group face, which include racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement and money laundering, and criminal copyright infringement.

This year, Dotcom also tried and failed to have former US President Barack Obama served with a subpoena and forced to give evidence in a New Zealand court over a damages claim for the streaming website.