False declarations

I’m a JP in Queensland and always warn people making stat decs that there is a penalty involved should they knowingly make a false declaration and that it is viewed as a serious offence by the judiciary. I’m advised to warn the deponent at the outset about the penalities for making a false declaration; that if the declaration is found to be untruthful, the deponent may be charged under the criminal code and be liable to penalties, including imprisonment. If that’s how we operate at the very bottom of the legal chain you would think an ex Federal Court Judge would endorse these warnings. Well you’d be wrong. Justice Enfield has been charged with making false declarations and should the charges be found he will have made a complete mockery of what he stands for and should be put away. You may think telling a lie to get out of paying a traffic fine is OK; that the authorities are only revenue gathering anyway but that’s not the point. The point is maintenance of the rule of law and if we can’t trust judges then who can we trust? It’s not as if he will be able to claim one simple mistake. He has been charged with 13 offences;

Einfeld, 67, now working as a barrister, was taken from his Woollahra home to the Sydney Police Centre in Surry Hills yesterday morning. At midday, fraud squad detectives from Strike Force Chanter charged him with three counts of perjury, six counts of perverting the course of justice, two counts of making a false instrument and two of using a false instrument.

The Herald has previously revealed that Einfeld went to extraordinary lengths to avoid at least nine traffic fines incurred during his four years on the Federal Court bench. They were for speeding, running red lights, and parking at bus stops. I need to be able to say to deponents that not only is making a false declaration a chargeable offence but that a High Court Judge has been goaled for doing so. If he is let off with a fine then any warning may well be treated lightly and/or ignored to the subsequent detriment of the deponent.