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 parents were the Labor Party politician Syd Einfeld and his wife Billie (Rosabelle) Einfeld (née Appelboom), who married in June 1934."Sydney David Einfeld, Politician and Community Leader (1907-1985)" - Julius Stone, Archive of Australian Judaica. His father served in both Federal Parliament and the Parliament of New South Wales. Einfeld's paternal grandfather was the Reverend Marcus Einfeld (1874–1937), who came to Australia in 1909 (becoming the chazan and the Second Minister of the Great Synagogue) by way of London, England, to which he had immigrated from Jarosław in Galicia with his wife Deborah (née Gabel; d. 1957).Raymond Apple (2008). The Great Synagogue: A History of Sydney's Big Shule, Great Synagogue (Sydney, N.S.W.), UNSW Press.Suzanne Duke (1984). Debrett's Handbook of Australia and New Zealand, Volume 2, Debrett's Peerage Limited, Debrett's Peerage (Firm).
Einfeld attended Sydney Boys High School from 1951 to 1955. He then obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Sydney in 1962. 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.Chris Back, "Work in Progress: Marcus Einfeld", Weekend Australian, 3–4 June 2000 He married his first wife Yetta, a teacher, in 1963 and they had two children before they divorced in 1977.Fiona Harari (2011). A Tragedy in Two Acts: Marcus Einfeld and Teresa Brennan, Victory Books. He married his second wife Anne, an attorney, in 1982 and they had two children before they divorced in 1996.
He was subsequently in a long-term relationship with Sylvia Eisman.
Legal and judicial career
Einfeld became a barrister in 1962.Michael Pelly (6 October 2009). "Jail completes Marcus Einfeld's fall" He was appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1977, aged 39."The little white lie that grew," BBC News | Magazine. He represented High Court Justice Lionel Murphy in his legal challenge to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry which had been established to examine whether Murphy had perverted the course of justice; the inquiry was suspended when Murphy became terminally ill.
Einfeld was appointed to the Federal Court in 1986. Einfeld was also an additional Justice of the Australian Capital Territory. He retired as a judge in April 2001."The Dishonouring of Marcus Einfeld" - Four Corners 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,[trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240546548 Commonwealth of Australia Gazette], 10 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.
Community and social involvement In 1989, Einfeld was interviewed by Caroline Jones on her Radio National program The Search for Meaning.
Einfeld has served as Austcare's "Ambassador for Refugees", and as a UNICEF "Ambassador for Children".Justice Marcus Einfeld AO QC. "The Great Australian Brain Robbery: the hijacking of the Australian conscience" 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. In 2002 he was granted the United Nations Peace Award. He has also served as National Vice President of the International Commission of Jurists (Australian Section). In 2002, he was presented a United Nations Association of Australia Founder's Award for his contribution to justice and human rights. He served as Chairman of Legal Resources International Inc., a non-government organisation funded by lawyers and the World Bank and Commonwealth Secretariat, dedicated to advising developing countries on establishing proper systems for democracy and justice.The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales on June 8, 1998 · Page 4
He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to international affairs and the protection of human rights in 1998. He was also the inaugural President of the Australian Paralympic Federation.Protection Or Punishment?: The Detention of Asylum-seekers in Australia - Google Books
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 also started and served as the first chairman of the Australian Campaign for the Rescue of Soviet Jewry, following his earlier establishment of the London-based National Campaign for Soviet Jewry of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Einfeld has been a spokesperson for Israeli and Jewish causes, and has contributed to public debate on Palestine, the media, the United Nations, universities, and other institutions. In 1997 President of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser Arafat chose him to assist in overhauling the Palestinian Authority's legal system. He was an invited speaker at United Israel Appeal (UIA) functions in Britain, the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia. He is patron of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants and of the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Controversies In a March 2006 address on the war on terror and civil liberties at the University of Western Sydney, he stated that Western powers, including Australia, had supported terrorist regimes financially, and that new sedition laws showed that Australia was "leaning towards an autocratic framework".
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
On 7 August 2006, Einfeld contested a A$77 speeding ticket.. His car had been caught by a speed camera, traveling at 60 km/h in a 50 km/h zone (10 km/h (6.2 mph) over the speed limit) in the Sydney suburb of Mosman on 8 January 2006.Karen Barlow (20 March 2009). "Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld sent to jail," ABC. The BBC noted: "the judge was only 6 mph over the limit, which scarcely made him a boy racer."
He contested the ticket in Downing Centre Local Court by claiming he had on that day lent his car to an old friend, Professor Teresa Brennan, who was visiting from the United States. By making his claim Einfeld was avoiding a A$77 fine, and avoiding gaining demerit points."Former judge Einfeld gets at least two years' jail ... all for lying about a $77 traffic fine". He gave evidence under oath in the Local Court, and signed a statutory declaration to that effect, and the magistrate dismissed the charge as "not proved." However, a junior reporter for the Sydney daily tabloid The Daily Telegraph filed a brief story which caught the attention of assistant editor Michael Beach, who discovered that Brennan had died in the United States three years before Einfeld claimed she had been driving his car, and on Beach's instruction the reporter called Einfeld to obtain his reaction. This was the basis for Einfeld's later conviction for knowingly making a false statement under oath.
When challenged by the journalist concerning Brennan's death, Einfeld claimed that he had lent his car on that day to a different Terese or Therese Brennan, who he claimed also lived in the US, and who had also died after returning to the US. On 10 August 2006 a police investigation commenced into whether Einfeld had committed perjury in giving his evidence. On 23 August 2006, Einfeld produced a detailed 20-page statement describing the fictitious second Teresa Brennan and his supposed dealings with her. This was the basis for his conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Matters took an unusual turn when on 10 August 2006 Angela Liati, a 55-year-old Sydney woman unknown to Einfeld but who wanted to meet him, came forward and claimed that she had met Einfeld and had driven in his car with "Theahresa Brennan" (whom she had met on a meditation retreat) on a shopping expedition on the day in question."Einfeld case: Liati faces trial" - smh.com.au Liati said "He has given his life to good causes and has been a brilliant judge ... a brilliant man ... and he deserves all the respect a country will give him". Liati represented herself during an eight-day District Court jury trial and claimed that she was only endeavouring to make contact with Einfeld through her admission. However, she was found guilty on 12 February 2009 of perverting the course of justice and was subsequently sentenced to 200 hours' community service; later changed to a 12-month good behaviour bond.
On 29 March 2007, Einfeld was arrested by the New South Wales Police. He was initially charged by the Director of Public Prosecutions (New South Wales) with 13 offences, including perjury, perverting the course of justice, and making and using false statutory declarations. The charges had maximum penalties totalling 154 years in jail.