Marcus Einfeld

Marcus Richard Einfeld (born 22 September 1938) is an Australian former judge of the Federal Court of Australia and was the inaugural president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice and served two years in prison.

Einfeld studied law at the University of Sydney. His father Syd Einfeld was a federal MP. He was called to the bar in 1962, and appointed Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1977. From 1972 to 1976, Einfeld was a director of the World Jewish Congress, based in London. After returning to Australia he became one of Sydney's most prominent barristers. Einfeld was appointed to the Federal Court in 1986, serving until 2001. In the same year he was made the inaugural president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, serving until 1989. He was also the inaugural president of the Australian Paralympic Committee from 1990 to 1992.

In 2006, Einfeld was issued a A$77 speeding ticket for travelling 10 km/h (6.2 mph) over the limit. He appealed the ticket, claiming that he had not been driving. Journalists subsequently discovered that he had made a number of false statements under oath; the woman he had said was driving had in fact died several years earlier. Einfeld was arrested in 2007, and the following year pleaded guilty to perjury and perverting the course of justice. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. As a result of his actions, Einfeld was expelled from the legal profession and stripped of many of the honours he had previously accumulated, including his status as a Queen's Counsel, appointment of the Order of Australia, and his status as a National Living Treasure.

Early life Einfeld was born in Sydney, and was named after his paternal grandfather who had died a year earlier. He has a sister. His father served in both Federal Parliament and the Parliament of New South Wales.

Einfeld attended Sydney Boys High School from 1951 to 1955. At some point, Einfeld began claiming that he held doctorates from both "Century University" and "Pacific Western University"; both are U.S.-based diploma mills without any accreditation as law schools. Those qualifications were referred to by Attorney-General Lionel Bowen when Einfeld was added to the Federal Court in 1987, and were listed in his Who's Who in Australia entry until 2007. His updated Who's Who entry, which was published after he had been arrested and charged with perjury, also corrected his year of birth (previously listed as 1939) and removed a claim that he had once been a director of the multinational firm Marks & Spencer in the 1970s.

Marriages and children Einfeld has four children, two from each of two marriages. He married his first wife Yetta, a teacher, in 1963 and they had two children before they divorced in 1977. He married his second wife Anne, an attorney, in 1982 and they had two children before they divorced in 1996.

Legal and judicial career

Einfeld became a barrister in 1962. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1977, aged 39.

Einfeld was appointed to the Federal Court in 1986. Einfeld was the founding president of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He was appointed to a seven-year term in December 1986, but resigned after three years citing an inability to combine the role with his judicial duties. In 1987 he led the commission's enquiry into the living conditions of Aboriginal people in the border area of New South Wales and Queensland. An Aboriginal elder praised his work with Indigenous communities when he was Human Rights Commissioner.

Einfeld has served as Austcare's "Ambassador for Refugees", and as a UNICEF "Ambassador for Children". In 1997, he was named by the National Trust of Australia as an Australian Living Treasure, one of up to 100 living people selected by popular vote for having made outstanding contributions to Australian society.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to international affairs and the protection of human rights in 1998.

Einfeld has served as an executive member of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies and as a Councillor on the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. He was an invited speaker at United Israel Appeal (UIA) functions in Britain, the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia.

Einfeld was the President of Australian Legal Resources International, a non-profit independent group of lawyers that supported democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in developing countries. In August 2006, this organisation collapsed, leaving creditors, including AusAID, the Australian Taxation Office, and St.George Bank "thousands of dollars out of pocket."

Criminal conviction Reactions Einfeld said "I'm desperately sorry for what I did. I'm sorry to my family, my elderly mother and my children. I'm sorry to the public at large.... I lied. I can't say it any simpler than that. I told a lie, which was a disgraceful thing to do and for which I have been paying ever since." On 26 November, Einfeld's commission as a Queen's Counsel was revoked.

NSW Law Society president Joe Catanzariti said that the three-year sentence for the former judge demonstrated that "the legal profession did not protect its own", but that it was tragic to see Einfeld's reputation ruined because "the sad thing in all of this is you do have a great man who has done great works, and ... the substantive thing that started it is so trivial." Reacting to a call to strip Einfeld of his pension, Chief Justice of New South Wales James Spigelman wrote in an April 2009 letter to NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos that pensions should be safe when judges were already retired, they were a deferred part of their salary, criminal law was sufficient punishment, and that it would be even more unusual if the offence "bears no relationship" to the judge's former duties. Spigelman continued that then-federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland and state attorneys-general should "impose a cooling off period on themselves" for reacting to vehement short-term ad hoc media campaigns." Former Australian Minister for Home Affairs, the Environment, and Arts Barry Cohen noted that: "many journalists ... feel it is beholden upon them to mention that a person is Jewish, particularly if they have been naughty... He received three years in custody... By comparison ... a young lady living in Canberra got four years for killing her boyfriend. Shortly after Marcus Einfeld was sentenced, Stephen Linnell, one of the top advisers to Victoria police commissioner Christine Nixon, pleaded guilty to three counts of perjury and disclosing confidential information of the Office of Police Integrity. He received an eight-month suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine. The glaring difference between these crimes and the punishments incurred is extraordinary."

Removal from the roll On 23 July 2009, the New South Wales Court of Appeal ordered that Einfeld's name be struck out from the roll of lawyers. On 28 August 2009, the Court of Appeal delivered its reasons for making those declarations and orders, Einfeld agreed not to apply for re-admission. The court also considered the circumstances in which Einfeld had produced the 20-page statement describing the fictitious Teresa Brennan, and found that:

This statement reflects a studied, careful and premeditated attempt through a series of direct lies to influence the outcome of the administration of justice. It involves not a passing mistake, not an unfortunate and apparently uncharacteristic lapse but a studied and deliberate attempt to avoid the consequences of his actions and to deflect and pervert the course of justice. It may well be that the course of justice was in relation to a minor matter, standing alone. That, however, is not the point... All these facts ... when taken as a whole reflect deeply on the character of the defendant. Some of his falsehoods were committed at a time when he held high judicial office in the administration of justice in this country. Some were committed when he held the position as a practitioner... These matters, having taken place over a period of some seven years ... reveal a clear unfitness to remain on the Roll of Local Lawyers.

Later life In 2011, Einfeld was devoting his time to community works, including working on Australian prison reform. Terminated by the Governor-General on 24 April 2009. Subsequently terminated. Centenary Medal: January 2001, "for service to the Centenary of Federation celebrations".

Literature

Einfeld, Marcus (2001). A Bill of Rights for the Australian People. Debrett's Travel. Einfeld, Marcus (1985). Evidence Illegally and Improperly Obtained: Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far?. Seventh National Conference of Labor Lawyers.