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. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

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 Aug ...

Education

He was a student at Timaru Boys' High School,

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) 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 coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

, New Zealand. He graduated from

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

(now the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

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

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in the United States, from where he graduated with an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree and an SJD degree.

Career

Sir Ivor Richardson Plaque, University of Canterbury

Richardson was a partner in the

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse ...

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 Ad ...

in the

Crown Law Office The Crown Law Office (Crown Law) ( Māori: ''Te Tari Ture o te Karauna'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on legal affairs, representing the government in appellate cases, and overseeing the pr ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

. He then joined the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kn ...

. 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 ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) 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 ...

in 1977 and subsequently to 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 ...

in the same year. He was invested as a

Privy Councillor A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

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 by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...

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 The Working Party on the Reorganisation of the Income Tax Act 1976 was a committee appointed by the New Zealand government to advise on the appropriate reorganisation of the income tax legislation. The Working Party was set up in 1993 as a result ...

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 ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(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 Inland Revenue or Inland Revenue Department (IRD; mi, Te Tari Taake) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on tax policy, collecting and disbursing payments for social support programmes, and col ...

(2003–08)

Honours and awards

Richardson was conferred with honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

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 orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

, and in the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, he was made a

Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, 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 Victoria University of Wellington faculty 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