What duties does a JP perform?

All the duties of a Justice are important and Justices must be thoroughly familiar with the carrying out of those duties. Although not every Justice becomes involved in Judicial duties, every Justice must carry out Ministerial duties. On-going training and support are offered for both Ministerial and Judicial duties.

Follow this link to learn more about the duties performed by a JP.

How do I find a JP?

There is a JP near you!

• Look in the Yellow Pages under "Justices of the Peace". In many phone books we are listed not just by town or city but also by suburb/area.
• Right here on our website (Directory Coming Soon)
• Contact your local JPs' association via our listing here (Listing Coming Soon)

A long proud history

The office of Justice of the Peace had its origin in 1195 when Archbishop Hubert, Chief Justice of England, appointed knights as "Conservators of the Peace". In 1361 King Edward III gave these officers a general power of trying practically all felonies; later an act of Henry VII initially empowered Justices of the Peace to try all offences except treason, murders and other felonies.
 
The first appointment of a JP in New Zealand was made in 1814 by Governor MacQuarie of New South Wales (from where New Zealand was first governed). He appointed missionary Thomas Kendall as a Justice "in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand and throughout the islands of New Zealand and those immediately contiguous thereto", to meet a growing need for a judicial officer to deal with lawlessness in the young colony - similar to the need recognised by Henry VII in England nearly 500 years earlier.

Today, our functions are more limited. The office derives its powers and functions principally from the Justice of the Peace Act 1957, successor to the series of acts which had been passed by the Colonial administrations days of 1841 onwards. These had led to the passage of a uniting Act in 1858 being described as "An Act to bring into operation within the Colony certain Acts of the Imperial Parliament, relating to Justices of the Peace." This may be shown by its "Short Title" of "The Justices of the Peace Act 1858" and which came into effect on the 1st Day of January 1859. Subsequent enactments such as those of 1866 & 1882, which greatly expanded on the role and responsibilities, were in turn replaced during the major legislative revisions of 1907. In our case this saw the incorporation of the previous provisions as well as those of the "Indictable Offences Summary Jurisdiction Act 1894" into the comprehensive "The Justices of the Peace Act 1908." It was this Act which was again replaced during the revisions of 1957 and in turn the later was substantially amended in 2007. We also have specific jurisdiction in more than 100 other enactments especially the Summary Jurisdiction Act.

The 2007 Amendments as well as expanding on the complaints and disciplinary provisions of the section 5 of the Act also required  the completion of initial training before formal appointment. It also allowed those JP's who have served for more than 10 years to apply for the status of a JP (retired) subject to meeting certain criteria set out in section 3 of the Act.