Former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld is the subject of a NSW police inquiry that could lead to perjury charges and end his legal career. The inquiry will consider if Mr Einfeld, an eminent Queen's Counsel who has practised as a barrister since retiring from the bench in 2001, should face legal action over evidence he gave to a Sydney court that enabled him to avoid a $77 speeding fine.

Mr Einfeld, 66, gave sworn testimony that he had not been driving his silver Lexus on Sunday, January 8, when a police speed camera detected the car travelling at 60km/h in a 50km/h zone at Mosman, on Sydney's north shore. He told the magistrate at the Downing Centre Local court on Monday that he had loaned the car to a friend, Teresa Brennan, a visiting academic from Florida. It has since emerged that Professor Brennan had in fact died three years earlier.

"It was either being driven by her or by a friend or family member of hers," Mr Einfeld said in a letter to the court. "She did not tell me where or with whom she had been driving or that she had been photographed speeding before returning to the US where she was unfortunately involved in a motor vehicle accident and died, so I cannot get any more details."

Police said yesterday that prosecutors would prepare a brief on the case for the director of police legal services, Assistant Commissioner Lee Shearer. "The prosecution has been asked to provide a briefing to the director of legal services confirming the evidence given before the court prior to making a determination on whether the matter should be further investigated," a NSW police spokeswoman said.

One of the nation's leading authorities on the ethics of lawyers, Ysaiah Ross, said that if the inquiry led to perjury charges, it could end Mr Einfeld's career. Mr Ross, who is the author of Ethics in Law, said former US president Bill Clinton had been struck off the roll of legal practitioners in Arkansas for perjury over the Whitewater affair. "The same thing could happen here," Mr Ross said.

Mr Einfeld had named Professor Brennan as the person driving his car when he gave evidence in court on Monday. But when later confronted by Sydney's The Daily Telegraph with the fact Professor Brennan had died in 2003, Mr Einfeld said he had been referring in court to another Professor Brennan. He said this Professor Brennan had also died since returning to the US. The first name of the second Professor Brennan was Therese or Terese and he was unsure of where she lived in the US. He did not know her occupation "except that she was in academia".

During Monday's hearing, Mr Einfeld gave evidence that he had completed a statutory declaration saying his car had been on loan to Professor Teresa Brennan of Florida at the time of the offence....

Outside the courts, Mr Einfeld enjoyed a reputation as one of Australia's leading human rights activists and was foundation president of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He is the senior member of the legal team seeking at least $10 million in compensation for wrongly deported Australian woman Vivian Alvarez, who was sent to The Philippines by the Immigration Department in 2001 after suffering amnesia in a car accident....

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