Where's the justice for the JPs?

The people who are the backbone of Auckland region's law courts believe the justice ministry is stifling them. John Landrigan reports.
Bruce Lilly has always been one to see his community right. The former city councillor and busy Justice of the Peace has churned through thousands of hours for you - for free.
At 73, Mr Lilly still is a judicial JP who deals with as many as 50 drug peddlers, car thieves, burglars and errant drivers a day at Waitakere, City or North Shore courts. And he does this for no more than a petrol voucher and a modest lunch.
 
Now court-sitting Justices of the Peace like Mr Lilly will endure the indignity of knowing newly-appointed, inexperienced "community magistrates'' will receive up to $400-a-day for fulfilling a similar role.
"I became a JP to help my community. Something for me to do during my days. I wanted to keep the brain going,'' he says.
Eight Community Magistrates are learning their trade now and will begin work in the Auckland region early next year.
Like the JPs, their task is to reduce the work of judges and speed up the court process.
But the magistrates also have extra power, dealing with offences carrying a maximum of three months in jail or a fine not exceeding $7500.
The president of the Auckland Justice of the Peace Association, Les Smith, sits at the North Shore court with Mr Lilly and he's not impressed either.
For 15 years, he lobbied the Ministry of Justice for recompense for the 42 JPs covering all four Auckland courts now.
"These courts,'' says Mr Smith, "would collapse without JPs' input. We cover 70-80 per cent of all criminal charges, summary of offences, traffic offending. We also sit on 90 per cent of all preliminary hearings to determine if there is a case to be heard. We've been doing it free since 1340 in King Edward III's time.''
Mr Smith says JPs would work for a quarter of that offered the community magistrates and cannot understand why the ministry has overlooked them.
Any member of the community can be appointed a community magistrate, excluding practising lawyers, police officers, employees of the Justice Ministry and the Department of Corrections, staff of District and High courts and social workers employed by the Social
Development Ministry. JPs may also apply.
Heather Baggott, acting general manager of District Courts, says the work undertaken by judicial JPs is done on a voluntary basis. "The services provided by judicial JPs are integral to the effective working of the court and the work they undertake on a voluntary basis is highly valued by the justice sector and the wider community.''
Community Magistrates, she says, have wider responsibilities and provide a filter for dealing with less serious cases, minimising the number of hearings required to be presided over by a judge.
The role
There are more than 1600 Justices of the Peace in Auckland. Twenty-seven Auckland Citizens Advice Bureaux operate a roster of JPs.
Most JP services are administered from homes, outside normal business hours, such as in evenings and during weekends. All services are provided free of charge.
Duties include witnessing documents, certifying copies, taking declarations, affidavits and affirmations and issuing search warrants. Judicial duties include hearing summary offences, presiding over preliminary hearings, conducting traffic courts, hearing bail applications and requests for remands and adjournments.