This 'One Stop Shop' to the History of Justices of the Peace, Life as a Justice, Engaging with Clients , Dealing with Documents, Certifying Copies, Witnessing, Affidavits, Statutory Roles and Other Roles.

Functions and powers

The activities of Justices of the Peace are usually classi ed in two ways:

1. Ministerial duties. These comprise the main tasks of all Justices and include:

   • – Administering statutory declarations.

   • – Administering a davits.

   • – Witnessing signatures.

   • – Certifying copies.

     This manual covers only ministerial duties.

2. Judicial duties. These involve presiding in a District Court. Judicial duties are dealt with in separate training resources.

The statutory powers and functions of Justices are set out in of the Justices of the Peace Act 1957 as follows:

4 Functions and powers of Justices

The functions and powers of Justices shall be -

(a) To take oaths and declarations under the provisions of the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957 or by any other enactment:

(b) To carry out such functions and exercise such powers as are conferred on Justices by the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 or by any other enactment.

Justices of the Peace carry out some tasks not as a Justice of the Peace (ie authorised by statute) but because the person is a Justice of the Peace (ie authorised by)

the government department, institution or agency wanting the task carried out).

This includes witnessing signatures and certifying copies as true copies. Some other tasks in this category are outlined in chapter 10.

A full copy of this Manual and the amendment can be downloaded here.