Simon Isaacs QC (9 April 1905 – 17 June 1987) was an Australian barrister and judge. He served on the

Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil law (common law), civil matters, and hears ...

from 1964 to 1975.

Early life

Isaacs was born in London on 9 April 1905. He was one of five children of Herman and Elizabeth Isaacs,

Dutch Jews The history of the Jews in the Netherlands largely dates to the late 16th century and 17th century, when Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain began to settle in Amsterdam and a few other Dutch cities, because the Netherlands was an unusual ...

from "impoverished families" who had arrived in England in the 1890s and worked as domestic servants. Isaacs spent his early years in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

and Hackney. His father immigrated to Australia in 1910 and the rest of the family joined him in Sydney in 1914. He was educated at Bourke Street Public School in

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

and Hurstville Public School, before winning a scholarship to attend

Sydney Boys' High School Sydney Boys High School ('SBHS'), otherwise known as Sydney High School ('SHS') or simply High, is an Australian government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Moore Park, New South Wales, a sub ...

. He went on to study law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

with first-class honours.

Legal career

Isaacs practised as a solicitor for six years before being admitted to the

New South Wales Bar The New South Wales Bar Association is a professional body of lawyers responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The body administers the bar examination in accordance with the Legal Profe ...

in 1934. He "practised extensively in

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

, Commonwealth industrial law and criminal law". In 1948 Isaacs appeared for

Jock Garden John Smith "Jock" Garden (13 August 188231 December 1968) was an Australian clergyman, trade unionist and politician. He was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Australia. Early life Garden was born on 13 August 1882 in Nigg, Aber ...

in the

royal commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

chaired by G. C. Ligertwood into the New Guinea timber scandal. Garden, a former federal MP and convicted fraudster, had alleged corruption on the part of government minister

Eddie Ward Edward John Ward (7 March 189931 July 1963) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in Parliament of Australia, federal parliament for over 30 years. He was the member for Division of East Sydney, East Sydn ...

. Isaacs and Ward came into conflict over allegations Isaacs repeated during the trial, with Ward publicly labelling Isaacs a liar and Prime Minister

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician and train driver who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), and was n ...

making unfavourable remarks of Isaacs in federal parliament, leading to a protest by the New South Wales bar council. Ward subsequently reported Isaacs to the bar council for misprofessional conduct, with an investigation clearing him of any wrongdoing. Isaacs was appointed

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1950. In the same year he represented five trade unions in ''

Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth ''Australian Communist Party v The Commonwealth'', also known as the ''Communist Party Case'',. was a legal case in the High Court of Australia in 1951 in which the court declared the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950 unconstitutional and in ...

'', appearing alongside

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere "Doc" Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a justice of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General of Australia, Attorney-General and Minister for For ...

as they successfully challenged the Menzies government's attempt to ban the Communist Party. In 1964, Isaacs was appointed to the

. He retired from the court in 1975. In 1979, Premier

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman o ...

appointed Isaacs to lead an inquiry into logging at Terania Creek.

Personal life

In 1929, Isaacs married Maria "Ria" Israel, with whom he had four children. They settled in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

in 1942. He died in Sydney on 17 June 1987, aged 82. Isaacs was active in Sydney's Jewish community as a board member of the Great Synagogue and a founding member of the Strathfield Synagogue in western Sydney. He was also treasurer of the

Sir Moses Montefiore Home The Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish Home provides residential elderly care facilities in Hunters Hill and Woollahra with a further facility being constructed in Randwick. The home is named after Sir Moses Haim Montefiore. The home seeks to enhance ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaacs, Simon 1905 births 1987 deaths Australian barristers British emigrants to Australia Australian people of Dutch-Jewish descent British people of Dutch-Jewish descent Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales Australian King's Counsel University of Sydney alumni People educated at Sydney Boys High School