Sir Ivor Lloyd Morgan Richardson (24 May 1930 – 29 December 2014) was an eminent New Zealand and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

jurist and legal writer and a member of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

Education

He was a student at Timaru Boys' High School,

Timaru Timaru (; ) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to peo ...

, New Zealand. He graduated from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

(now the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, in 1949 with an LL.B. degree. He went on to study at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in the United States, from where he graduated with an LL.M. degree and an SJD degree.

Career

Richardson was a partner in the

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

firm of Macalister Brothers from 1957 to 1963. From 1963 to 1966, he was

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

in the Crown Law Office in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. He then joined the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. He was Professor of Law, between 1967 and 1973, during which period he served as Dean of the Law Faculty from 1968 to 1971. After a period back in public practice in Wellington he was appointed as a judge in the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand () is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration of justice throughout New Zeala ...

in 1977 and subsequently to the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

in the same year. He was invested as a Privy Councillor in 1978. In 2003 he was appointed to the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He was a Distinguished Fellow at Victoria University.

Influence on New Zealand taxation

Richardson has had significant impact on the development of New Zealand tax law and policy. During his time on the Court of Appeal he delivered most of the majority decisions on the significant tax cases of the time. For example, his ruling in ''CIR'' v ''Farmers' Trading Co Ltd'' (1982) 5 NZTC 61,200 was instrumental in the development of reference to accounting concepts in determining taxable income. He wrote or presented a number of influential papers, particularly on the development of theories around

tax avoidance Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdictions that facilitate reduced taxe ...

and was an important part of the reforms of the 1980s (see, for example, the First Report of the Working Party on the Reorganisation of the Income Tax Act 1976).

Legal service

Richardson was the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education from 1983 to 1992. He also served as Pro Chancellor (1979 to 1984) and

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

(1984 to 1986) of the Victoria University of Wellington.

Death

Richardson died on 29 December 2014, aged 84.

Other service

Richardson chaired or served on numerous government committees and commissions. Notable among them were: * Commission of Inquiry into Inflation Accounting (1975–76) * Committee of Inquiry into Solicitors' Nominee Companies (1982) * Royal Commission on Social Policy (1986–88) * Organisational Review of Inland Revenue Department (1993–94) * Rewrite Advisory Panel (2003–08)

Honours and awards

Richardson was conferred with honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degrees by the

in 1987 and

in 1989. In the 1986 Queen's Birthday Honours, Richardson was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

, and in the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, he was made a Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services as president of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Ivor 1930 births 2014 deaths New Zealand Knights Bachelor 20th-century New Zealand lawyers Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington People educated at Timaru Boys' High School University of Canterbury alumni People from Ashburton, New Zealand High Court of New Zealand judges Court of Appeal of New Zealand judges Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong) Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Principal Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand judges on the courts of Hong Kong University of Michigan Law School alumni New Zealand members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Chancellors of Victoria University of Wellington University of Canterbury Faculty of Law alumni