The true message of Christmas hasn’t changed for 2000 years – peace, love, hope and joy are the wish of all peoples, whatever your faith or cultural beliefs and I wish them for you again this year.

If you have young children or grandchildren you will probably be experiencing the excitement of another approaching Christmas. Not quite the “how many sleeps?” question just yet but, with the Christmas decorations in the shops and pre-Christmas sales all around, it won’t be long before the question is asked. Children can’t wait for the big day, their parents usually can’t wait for the holidays to arrive so that they can take a break from work and hopefully enjoy the summer relaxation and older folk (if you are like me) can’t wait for all the fuss to be over so that life can return to normal – whatever normal is for you.

New Justices.

Four new Justices were sworn in on the 31st October and we welcome Lance Kenyon, Brian Mannix, Nicki Warren and Kun Zhao to our membership. The ceremony was conducted by Judge Couch and took place in the Family Court building in Armagh Street. This was the last for the old District Court complex and I look forward to future ceremonies and nominee interviews in the new Justice Precinct. The move to the new building has been more complicated and drawn out that expected but hopefully all will be well as things settle down in the New Year.

New Members.

Six JPs have transferred IN from other associations and we welcome Clive Foster from Franklin, Sharron Ballantyne and Wayne Hart from South Canterbury, John Macdonald from Nelson/Tasman, Leighton Evans from Gisborne and Graham Medland from Waikato who will join us in January. We warmly welcome them all to CJPA and look forward to meeting them at future social functions and training sessions.

Transferring OUT are Bruce Kenyon to South Canterbury, Shelagh Docherty to Southland and Lorraine McKeown to Otago. We thank them for their contribution to this Association and wish them well in their new destinations.

Retirements.

The following members have retired from active duty:- Gordon Habgood, Brian Metherell, and Daniel Kelleher. We thank them all for their years of service and wish them well in their retirement.

Obituaries.

Sadly I record the deaths of Cathrene Brophy and John Ryan (Retired). Cathrene was a relatively new JP who was full of enthusiasm in all that she did and, although John had retired as an active JP in 2015, he remained a member of the Association until 2 weeks before his death.

We express our sincere condolences to their families along with our grateful thanks for their many years of service.

JPs Retired.

The Minister of Justice has approved the status of JP (Retired) for Colleen Gregg and Gordon Habgood and we congratulate them and thank them again for their many years of service to their communities.

JP Accreditation

At our AGM in October, the Royal Federation National President Denise Hutchins, spoke of the agreement between the Ministry of Justice and the RF to concentrate on making sure that all JPs are kept up-to-date with education and training. As an Association we are committed to providing the opportunity for all members to upskill and to become “Accredited”. The Council have set a target of having 50% of our JPs accredited by 1st July 2018 and extra help will be available for any who need it. A computer and internet is desirable - but not essential as we are able to provide the equipment and walk you through the process. A willingness to accept help and the desire to provide the best service for our clients is all that you need.

Service Desks

What a busy three months we have had. Since September we have opened new Service Desks in Bishopdale (Wednesdays), Rolleston (Mondays) and Sumner (Saturdays) and planned to open a SD in Amberley in the New Year. We were fortunate to obtain funding from Air Rescue Services Trust for new pull-up banners and a set of 3 stamps for each desk. The desks should all have a current Ministerial Manual and 3 Stamps in a zipped satchel along with the new banners. SD JPs should now only need to remember to bring their own personally named and numbered stamp.

Gwen Mitchell continues to provide inspiring leadership to the Service Desk Rosterers and JPs and we will have the opportunity to thank her personally at the SD JPs morning tea on Saturday the 2nd December. We also thank all the JPs who continue to provide such an excellent service to members of the public at Libraries each week.

2018 Royal Federation of Justices Associations Conference – Christchurch March 2nd to 4th.

The 90th RF Annual Conference is to be held in Christchurch at Rydges Latimer and all JPs are eligible to attend. A Registration Form is included with this newsletter and I invite you to consider attending at least some of the conference. It is an opportunity for you to see at first hand the national organisation we belong to and to mix and mingle with other JPs from around New Zealand.

JPs don’t work in isolation but are part of a great community of volunteers who serve the public right around the country.

Centenary Celebrations

Keep Sunday 1st of July 2018 free and plan to attend our Centenary Celebration Church Service and Luncheon. More details will be released in the New Year but as the oldest JP Association in New Zealand we have a lot to celebrate!

Annual General Meeting

Our 100th AGM was held at the end of October and BJ Clark was elected as our new President. He takes over from Bob Macgregor who has served for many years on the Council and becomes the Immediate Past President. Ian Hay steps down from Council but continues as Convenor of the 2018 RF Conference Committee. We thank Ian also for his many years of devoted service to the CJPA. Graeme Barber was elected Vice President and Neville Brown, Bruce Cameron, Yvonne Palmer and Kaye Schumacher were elected as Councillors. They, along with Treasurer Garth Dale and me as Registrar are your Council for the next financial year.

A planned calendar of events will be attached to this newsletter and you can start planning your JP commitments for 2018 before Christmas!

Finally – thank you all for your continuing support and commitment in your service as volunteers to the public of Canterbury. I wish all members a relaxing and peaceful Christmas and New Year and look forward to catching up with you in 2018.

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Ken Shields JP

Registrar