Elliott Frank Johnston (26 February 1918 – 25 August 2011) was an Australian jurist and communist activist. As a judge of the

Supreme Court of South Australia The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...

(1983–1988), he was the only

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

to serve as an Australian judge. He is also remembered as the second and final Commissioner of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1989–91).

Early life and education

Johnston was born in

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

to William Stewart and Elsie Vivian Johnston and grew up in

Kingston SE Kingston SE (Kingston South East to distinguish it from Kingston-on-Murray) formerly Kingston is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located in the state's south-east coastline on the shores of Lacepede Bay. It is located about ...

, studying first at public high schools and then Prince Alfred College on scholarship. He went on to study law at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and after working at Povey Waterhouse, a law firm, while a student, he was immediately offered employment. He became secretary of the pacifist University Peace Group in 1937 and in 1940 established the Radical Club, which was banned within a month.

Career

In 1940, despite his pacifist leanings, he enlisted in the army; he served in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

from 1943 to 1945 and returned a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

. Shortly after his return from the War, he opened his own law office calle
Johnston Withers Lawyers
He had married Elizabeth Teesdale Smith, a fellow university radical, on 17 April 1942. Johnston had joined the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...

in 1941. He attended the Sheffield Peace Congress in Warsaw in 1950 and then embarked on a brief tour of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, which resulted in the cancellation of his passport. In 1951, he gave up his practice to work full-time as a communist organiser, and in 1954 he was elected to the South Australian state committee of the party. He studied in China from August 1955 to February 1957, and in July 1957 he returned to the law. Johnston disapproved of the excesses of both Stalinist and Maoist communism but remained committed to the ideal; he was put forward as

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1969 but was rejected on political grounds. The following year, following the

Hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

Government's defeat by Don Dunstan's Labor Party, Johnston was appointed QC. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Johnston's law firm, which he ran with his wife Elizabeth and their partner Robyn Layton, dealt with a variety of progressive causes as well representing nineteen trade unions. Johnston was also a member of the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

's principal council for many years.

Judgeship

He was appointed as a judge to the

in 1983, which necessitated his resignation from the Communist Party. He served on the bench until February 1988, when he retired at the age of seventy. He remained active, however, and was immediately appointed a member of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, succeeding to the role of Commissioner in 1989 following Jim Muirhead's resignation.

Personal life

Johnston died at Parkwynd Hospital in Adelaide in August 2011; a memorial service held at the

was attended by 650 people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Elliott 1918 births 2011 deaths Australian King's Counsel Judges of the Supreme Court of South Australia Adelaide Law School alumni Communist Party of Australia members Officers of the Order of Australia