An Act to provide for the appointment and functions of justices of the peace; and for other purposes.
Part 1 Preliminary
1 Name of Act
This Act is the Justices of the Peace Act 2002.
2 Commencement
This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.
3 Definitions
In this Act:exercise a function includes perform a duty.function includes a power, authority or duty.justice of the peace means a person who holds office as a justice of the peace under this Act.
Part 2 Appointment and functions of justices of the peace
4 Appointment of justices of the peace
(1) The Governor may, on the recommendation of the Minister, appoint a person as a justice of the peace.(2) A person may not be appointed as a justice of the peace unless the person is eligible to be so appointed.(3) A person appointed as a justice of the peace is to hold office for a period of 5 years from the date of his or her appointment (subject to the regulations) and may, if eligible to be appointed as a justice of the peace, be re-appointed:(a) by the Governor, on the recommendation of the Minister, or(b) by the Director-General of the Attorney General’s Department.(3A) A regulation under subsection (3) cannot provide for a reduction of the term of office of any justice of the peace by more than 1 year and cannot provide for an extension of the term of office of any justice of the peace by more than 2 years.(4) Despite subsections (3) and (3A), if an application for re-appointment is duly made by a person, the person’s appointment as a justice of the peace continues in force until a determination is made in respect of the application.(5) The Director-General of the Attorney General’s Department may delegate his or her function under subsection (3) to a senior officer of the Department.s 4: Am 2008 No 15, Sch 1 [1] [2]; 2008 No 114, Sch 1.11; 2014 No 14, Sch 2.1 [1]–[3].
5 Persons who are eligible to be appointed as justices of the peace
(1) A person is eligible to be appointed as a justice of the peace if the person meets all of the following requirements:(a) the person is at least 18 years of age,(b) the person is nominated for appointment by a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council,(c) the person satisfies the criteria for appointment as a justice of the peace prescribed by the regulations.(2) A person seeking re-appointment as a justice of the peace is not required to be nominated for re-appointment by a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council.(3) The Minister may issue guidelines with respect to the appointment of justices of the peace.
6 Applications to Minister
(1) A person may apply to the Minister for appointment or re-appointment as a justice of the peace.(2) An application is to be in the form approved by the Minister and accompanied by:(a) except in the case of an application for re-appointment, a written nomination signed by a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council, and(b) any other documents required by the Minister.
7 Oaths of office to be taken
(1) A person who is appointed as a justice of the peace must not exercise the functions of a justice of the peace unless the person has taken an oath of office in the form and manner prescribed by the regulations.(2) A person who is re-appointed as a justice of the peace is not required to take another oath of office if the person held office as a justice of the peace immediately before that re-appointment.s 7: Am 2005 No 31, Sch 7 [1].
8 Functions of justices of the peace
(1) A justice of the peace may exercise any function conferred or imposed on a justice of the peace by or under this Act, the Oaths Act 1900 or any other Act.(2) The Minister may issue guidelines with respect to the exercise of specified functions by justices of the peace under this or any other Act.(3) The guidelines are to incorporate relevant provisions of any code of conduct for justices of the peace that has been prescribed by the regulations.s 8: Am 2008 No 15, Sch 1 [3]; 2013 No 80, Sch 9 [1].
8A Justices of the peace may certify copies
(1) A justice of the peace may certify a document to be a true and accurate copy if the justice of the peace has both the original document and the copy in his or her possession at the time of certifying.(2) A justice of the peace who certifies a document under this section must cause to be printed on the copy of the original document the following words or words substantially the same as the following:I certify this to be a true and accurate copy of the document reported to me to be the original document.s 8A: Ins 2013 No 80, Sch 9 [2].
9 Vacation of office
(1) A person ceases to hold the office of a justice of the peace if the person:(a) completes a term of office and is not re-appointed, or(b) resigns the office by instrument in writing addressed to the Minister, or(c) is removed from office by the Governor under subsection (2).(2) The Governor may at any time, on the recommendation of the Minister, remove a justice of the peace from office.(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the Governor may at any time, on the recommendation of the Minister, remove a justice of the peace from office:(a) if the person becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their benefit, or(b) if the person becomes a mentally incapacitated person, or(c) if the person is convicted in New South Wales of an offence that is punishable by imprisonment for 12 months or more or is convicted elsewhere than in New South Wales of an offence that, if committed in New South Wales, would be an offence so punishable, or(d) in any other circumstances prescribed by the regulations.s 9: Am 2008 No 15, Sch 1 [4].
9A Suspension
(1) The Minister may at any time suspend a justice of the peace from office.(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Minister may at any time suspend a justice of the peace from office:(a) if the person is charged with an offence referred to in section 9 (3) (c), or(b) in any of the circumstances set out in section 9 (3) (a)–(d), or(c) in any other circumstances prescribed by the regulations.(3) A suspension takes effect on the day on which written notice of the suspension is given to the justice of the peace concerned or at such later time as may be specified in the notice.(4) A person who is suspended under this section is taken not to be a justice of the peace and cannot exercise any function of a justice of the peace during that suspension.(5) The purported exercise of any function by a justice of the peace during any period that the justice of the peace is suspended cannot be used to challenge or call into question any document or other thing unless the person relying on the document or other thing knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the justice of the peace was suspended when purporting to exercise the relevant function.(6) A suspension ceases to have effect when it is withdrawn by the Minister by notice in writing given to the person who is suspended.s 9A: Ins 2014 No 14, Sch 2.1 [4].
Part 3 Miscellaneous
10 Notification of matters to Minister
(1) A justice of the peace must notify the Minister in writing of the following:(a) any matter that may cause the justice of the peace to cease to satisfy the prescribed criteria for appointment as a justice of the peace,(b) if the justice of the peace satisfies any of the grounds for removal from office under section 9 (3).(2) The notice must be given as soon as practicable after the justice of the peace becomes aware of the matter concerned.Maximum penalty: 20 penalty units.
11 Register of justices of the peace
(1) The Minister is to cause to be kept and maintained a register of justices of the peace.(2) The register is to be in the form determined by the Minister and is to contain the particulars prescribed by the regulations.(3) The register is to be available for inspection by the public, free of charge, during business hours at such places as the Minister determines.(4) The Director-General of the Attorney General’s Department may issue a certificate certifying as to whether a person was registered on the register at a particular time. The certificate is admissible in legal proceedings as evidence of the matters certified.(5) Information entered on the register is presumed (in the absence of evidence to the contrary) to be correct.
12 Nature of proceedings for offences
Proceedings for an offence under this Act or the regulations may be dealt with summarily before the Local Court.s 12: Am 2007 No 94, Sch 2.
13 Guidelines to be publicly available
The Minister must ensure that guidelines issued by the Minister under this Act are publicly available.
14 Regulations
(1) The Governor may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, for or with respect to any matter that is required or permitted to be prescribed or that is necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.(2) The regulations may create offences punishable by a penalty not exceeding 10 penalty units.
15 Savings and transitional provisions
Schedule 1 has effect.
16 (Repealed)
s 16: Rep 2005 No 64, Sch 3.
17 Review of Act
(1) The Minister is to review this Act to determine whether the policy objectives of the Act remain valid and whether the terms of the Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives.(2) The review is to be undertaken as soon as possible after the period of 5 years from the date of assent to this Act.(3) A report of the outcome of the review is to be tabled in each House of Parliament within 12 months after the end of the period of 5 years.
Schedule 1 Savings and transitional provisions
(Section 15)
1 Regulations
(1) The regulations may contain provisions of a savings or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of this Act or any Act that amends this Act.(2) Any such provision may, if the regulations so provide, take effect from the date of assent to the Act concerned or a later date.(3) To the extent to which any such provision takes effect from a date that is earlier than the date of its publication in the Gazette, the provision does not operate so as:(a) to affect, in a manner prejudicial to any person (other than the State or an authority of the State), the rights of that person existing before the date of its publication, or(b) to impose liabilities on any person (other than the State or an authority of the State) in respect of anything done or omitted to be done before the date of its publication.
2 Existing justices of the peace
(1) A person who, immediately before the commencement of section 4, was appointed, or held office, as a justice of the peace for the State, is taken to be so appointed, or to hold such office, under this Act until the third anniversary of the commencement of section 4, unless the justice of the peace sooner ceases to hold office.(2) Nothing in this clause prevents a person referred to in subclause (1) from being re-appointed, or from resigning or being removed from office, in accordance with this Act, as a justice of the peace.
3 Amendments made by Courts Legislation Amendment Act 2005
The amendment made to section 7 by the Courts Legislation Amendment Act 2005 applies to any re-appointment made on or after the commencement of that amendment, regardless of when the person being re-appointed was first appointed as a justice of the peace.
4 Amendments made by Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014
Section 4 (3A) as inserted by the Courts and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 extends to a term of office of a justice of the peace that was commenced before the commencement of that subsection.
sch 1: Am 2005 No 31, Sch 7 [2] [3]; 2014 No 14, Sch 2.1 [5] [6].