William Patrick Jeffries (born 19 September 1945) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was elected as the Member of Parliament for Heretaunga and served as Minister of Transport and Minister of Justice.

Biography

Early life and career

Jeffries was born in Wellington in 1945 and he was educated at St Patrick's College. He attended Victoria University and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, after which he became a lawyer at his brother's legal firm. Later he left New Zealand to work in the United Kingdom, before returning to Wellington and establishing his own law firm. He was an active athlete in his youth, playing both tennis and rugby. Jeffries married and had six children.

Political career

Jeffries was a member of the Wellington City Council from

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

until 1980. From 1977 to 1980 he was leader of the Labour caucus on the council; he was the youngest ever leader. Wellington Mayor Sir Michael Fowler later described Jeffries as an "extremely good" councillor. His brother John was previously also a councillor and Deputy Mayor to Sir Frank Kitts. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

Jeffries unsuccessfully contested the seat of

Miramar Miramar is a place name of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It means "sea-view" or "sea sight" from ''mirar'' ("to look at, to watch") and ''mar'' ("sea"). It may refer to: Places Africa * Miramar, Port Elizabeth, see St Dominic's Priory School ...

for the Labour Party. He represented the Heretaunga electorate from

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, when he was defeated by National candidate

Peter McCardle Peter McCardle (born 28 September 1955), is a New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1990 to 1999, first as a member of the National Party, then as a member of New Zealand First, and finally as an independent. McCardle was ...

in a swing against Labour. He was undersecretary to the Minister of Transport in 1986 and also to the Minister of Works, and chairman of a parliamentary committee on road safety in 1987. In April 1988 he was appointed chairman of the National Roads Board. He was Minister of Justice from 1989 to 1990 in the

Fourth Labour Government The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda of ...

Lombard Finance convictions

On 24 February 2012 Jeffries was convicted, along with fellow former Justice Minister Sir Douglas Graham and two other men, of breaching the Securities Act by making untrue statements to investors in his capacity as a director of Lombard Finance. Justice Robert Dobson wrote, "I am satisfied that the accused genuinely believed in the accuracy and adequacy of the ... documents", but that the offences were ones of

strict liability In criminal and civil law, strict liability is a standard of liability under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of fault or criminal intent on the part of the defendant. ...

so there was no need for "any form of mental intent to distribute documents that were false or misleading". Jeffries was sentenced to 400 hours' community service. The

Court of Appeal A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

dismissed his appeal against conviction and increased his sentence to eight months' home detention and 250 hours' community work, but the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

restored the original sentence. Retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Edmund Thomas described his convictions as a "grievous miscarriage of justice", saying of the crucial piece of evidence that "you would never ever convict a dog on the basis of the schedule".

Notes

References

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffries, Bill 1945 births People educated at St. Patrick's College, Wellington Victoria University of Wellington alumni New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Living people New Zealand MPs for Hutt Valley electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election Wellington City Councillors New Zealand politicians convicted of crimes Justice ministers of New Zealand