JUSTICE OF PEACE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 149, 19 March 1936, Page 13

JUSTICE OF PEACE

History of Ancient Office Traced CHANGE IN FUNCTIONS .More than 100 justices of the peace and tbeir wives attended the social held last night by the Wellington Justices of the Peace Association in conjunction with the annual conference of the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Associations. The guest of the evening was his Honour -Mr. Justice Ostler, who gave an address on the history of the office of justice of the peace. The chairman of the Wellington association. Mr. 11. W. Shortt, extended a welcome to the guests. He particularly welcomed Mr. Justice Ostler and Mrs Ostler, the Under-Secretary for Justice, Mr. B. L. Dallard, and Mrs. Dallard, Mr. E. D. Mosley, S.M, aim Mrs. Mosley, Mr. J. H. Luxford. S.M., and .Mrs. Luxford, and tbe newlyelected president of the federation, Mr. H. H. Seaton. Apologies for absence were received from Mr. J. S. Barton, C.M.G., S.M., -Mr. W. F. Stilwell, S.M., and Mr. 11. I’- Lawry, S.M. "The office of justice of the peace is a very ancient and honourable one, and the institution of justices of the peace has played a very important part in the development of the British Constitution,” said Mr. Justice Ostler. "They were first appointed iu England as long ago as 1195, in the reign of Richard I, and have been a live institution ever since, although it was not until 165 years later that they were first called iu any statute by the name of justice of the peace. In that year was passed a statute authorising the Crown by Commission under the Great Seal to assign in every county ‘one lord and with him three or four of the most wbrtby iu the county, with some learned *in law.’ These were to be assigned to arrest and imprison offenders, to imprison or take surety of suspected persons, and to hear and determine felonies and trespasses done iu the county. . , • “The jurisdiction of the justices tn England was not merely judicial; it was administrative. They were the police and the local government as well as the judges in all but the most important eases. Successive statutes added to their duties and made theif in time the rulers of their county; and they were efficient rulers. The institution of justices in England was unique; there was no similar system in any other European country. The difference was pointed out by Baeon in the time of James I. In all other countries the upper classes were purely and solely men of arms, and their remedy for all ills was violence. Jn England alone they were law-givers and administrators, and they received a training in the administration of law and government which rendered them ripe for public service iu Parliament. It was this fact that made our English Parliament such a formidable body when it began its long struggle for supremacy with the Crown. "It is not too much to say that but for the flourishing institution of justices of the peace in England we should not have enjoyed the blessings of freedom. which we have enjoyed for so many years that we are iu danger of forgetting the tremendous struggle to win it, and in danger of letting it be filched away. It has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of all liberty. "The functions of a justice in modern times have undergone considerable change,” said Mr. Justice Ostler.

"The rise of first the middle class aud then tbe working class to political power was the cause of tbe creation of a multitude of jurisdictions created to control local government formerly controlled by justices, aud the function of tbe justices has been confined more and more to judicial work. The custom of sending to the assizes all cases in which the penalty was death gradually hardened into a rule of law. aud thus justices were deprived of a great deal of their criminal jurisdiction. But a great deal of it renuiins. :tnd justices exercise very iniportunt judicial functions, both criminal and civil." During'the evening the ■ following musical programme was contributed : — Pianoforte solo. Miss Dorothy Spinks; song. Mr. AV. J. Mason, J.l’.; song. Mrs. AVHfred Andrews; recitation. Miss V. Tait; soug. Mrs. Amy Woodward.: song. Mr. Herbert. F. Wood, ..I’.: soug. Miss Marjorie Bennie; duet. Mrs. Amy Woodward and Mrs. Herbert F. Wood. The acconipanist was Miss Dorothy Spinks.