Women Justices advance

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 16

Women Justices advance

Women Justices of the Peace have come a long way in the past few yars, according to Mrs Rosemary Hewstone, Convener of the Women Justices’ Luncheon Group. A training course, run by the Technical Correspondence Institute in Wellington, was established three years ago for Justices of the Peace interested in taking up judicial duties. It is described as being of great benefit for those without legal backgrounds. As a result it is being taken up particularly by women. “The system has improved so much, and we now feel as though we know as much as the officers,” Mrs Hewston said. “We also feel that women are accepted much more on the bench.” Women members of the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association met yesterday to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their luncheon group. Mrs Doris Radley, the group’s first convener, who is now at Parklands Private Hospital, was the guest of honour. Of the total of approximately 530 J.P.s belonging to the Canterbury association approximately 87 are women. One hundred and fortyfive men and 40 women have been appointed since January 1976, with the ratio of women appointees showing a marked increase in the last three years.

Twenty-eight Canterbury men and eight women have completed the judicial training course, with a further six men and three women passing a graduate course. Court duties require the services of fourteen J.P.s weekly. These are drawn from the panel of 24 people (incluAng three women)

who are eligible and willing to serve. A further eight women meet all the criteria, but do not choose to go on the panel because of other commitments, according to the registrar for the Justices’ of the Peace Association, Mr Charles Pilgrim. . s ; Sitting on the in

Canterbury, however, is not just a matter of passing the judicial training course. With a big number of justices available, the Canterbury Association is able to follow recommendations made by the Commission of the Courts: a maximum age of 68; appropriate appearance and approach; special training classes; and having the time available. This last is vital, for preliminary hearings may run into days. There are now five women on the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association Council. They are Mrs Caroline Cartwright, Mrs Mary Holmes, Mrs Grace Hollander, Mrs Joyce Mclver, and Miss Jean Taylor. Being a Justice of the Peace is certainly no sinecure — no golden handshake for services rendered. Unlike many other min-isterially-appointed justice positions, Justices are not paid for their services. Expenses can be claimed for lunches (when sittings resume in the afternoon); for bus fares and for car parking. Sometimes a Justice may be reimbursed for loss of earnings incurred in presiding over a court hearing. Yet their work can be onerous and time-consum-ing; it can involve much

study; it can lead to interruptions at all hours of the day or night in attending to ‘ministerial’ duties. Above all, complete correctness and sound judgment are required. “A Justice must never be wrong,” says Mrs Hewstone. “If one is not absolutely certain as to what is the correct procedure, one should look it up, or discuss it with someone who is likely to know.” Court work is confined to dealing with minor offences, such as undefended traffic cases; preliminary hearings and with Saturday morning court sessions. In addition a great deal of clerical work is involved with traffic offences. Ministerial duties include services to the police, such as approving search warrants and court summonses; prison services, such as approving bail; and services to the public: rates rebate applications, insurance claims, changes of name by deed poll, applications for citizenship and passports. The course offered by the Technical Correspondence Institute is quite demanding. About 15 manuals cover topics such as Common Law; Court Structure and criminal law; the jurisdiction of J.P.’s; court procedures; minor offences; evicommon crimes;

summary procedure. The studies involved often pose a big challenge to elderly people. Mrs Hewstone cheerfully admits that they extended her fully — but she’s delighted that she has been successful with the two courses she has undertaken. “I think it would all have been a great deal easier if I had been younger,” she says. What make a good woman J.P.? Rosemary Hewstone thinks the ability to understand all sorts of people is paramount. “It should be a woman who’s mixed in all sorts of life and all kinds of life, with all ages, and who has moved in all societies. That’s the best J.P. “It should be someone who has compassion for the other person. Religion and politics should never come into it,” she says. Mrs Hewstone is proud of the one small blow for women’s equality that she has struck in the Canterbury Justices of the Peace Association. This was to protest about the term “Justices and their wives,” that was in common use. “It has now been changed to “Justices and their partners,” she says.

By

JACQUELINE STEINCAMP