Barrie Buck, being sworn in as a Justice of the Peace on September 13, 2006, at the old Levin Courthouse.
Barrie Buck, being sworn in as a Justice of the Peace on September 13, 2006, at the old Levin Courthouse.
The NZ Justices' Association has finally caught up with local businessman and Justice of the Peace Barrie Buck, five years after he should have retired as a judicial JP.
There are over 250 judicial Justices of the Peace in New Zealand, with three of them in the Horowhenua.
Bernie Wanden,Horowhenua mayor, is another of the three and said the Central Districts branch of the Justice Association had applied for an extension to Buck's tenure.
"District court judges generally retire from the bench at 75 years old, so the same usually applies to us," Wanden said.
Judicial JPs hear minor cases in the district court, to take the pressure off local judges, and they can impose fines and some driving penalties (such as a licence disqualification).
They may also preside over some preliminary hearings, bail applications and requests for remands and adjournments.
Wanden said their role also helped to reduce costs for the Ministry of Justice, as the judicial JP position is voluntary and therefore unpaid.
In 2006, at an age when most people are thinking about retiring and reducing their workload, Buck was approached by then Labour MP for Ōtaki, Darren Hughes, to become a Justice of the Peace for Levin.
Judicial JP Barrie Buck has regularly presided over minor cases in Levin District Courthouse since 2007.
Being a person who likes to be of service to the public, Buck did the relevant study and passed his exam to be sworn in as a JP at the old Levin Courthouse on September 13, 2006.
Six months after this Buck was invited to be considered for a judicial JP role, which involved going before a panel of the Justices' Association in Palmerston North.
The next step was completing a year-long correspondence course covering the finer points of the court system and legal processes.
"We had a mentor as well and I was lucky enough to get Ray Mathewson who was a retired court registrar," said Buck.
When Buck qualified as a judicial JP the first nine months of his new career was spent in the old Levin courthouse, then the district court moved into temporary accommodation (two converted houses) for another two years while the new courthouse on Bristol St was being constructed.
"The current courthouse is quite luxurious in comparison to the old premises ... we were in very close quarters in the courtroom, in fact almost sitting in each other's laps," laughed Buck.
Buck worked hard to give his best in this role, making sure he listened to both sides of people's stories, and keeping his personal feelings in check with some of the more difficult cases, especially those relating to family violence.
"If I knew the defendant personally, I'd always ask if they were happy for me to hear their case, or if they wanted me to send it through to a judge," Buck said, and he never let what he saw or heard influence how he treated people outside of court.
Barrie Buck JP is also the owner/operator of Levin business B.G. Buck Ltd.
One of the biggest changes Buck noticed over his time on the bench was the increase in the number of cases that were drug related, and how much younger the offenders appeared to be getting.
"Some of the 15 and 16-year-olds coming into court are already drug and alcohol dependent which is heart-breaking to see," he said.
Buck is particularly proud of a process he was involved in implementing at the Levin District Court to help get unlicensed drivers off the road.
With the support of local police, offenders were often given the chance to get into a programme to sit their licence instead of receiving a fine, with many taking up the chance to become legal drivers.
Buck said he had no regrets during his 14 years in this role.
"Court staff were excellent to deal with and [I had] a good rapport with the local police."
He will continue his role as an administrative Justice of the Peace, and will still take his turn on the roster for the Tuesday drop-in sessions at Te Takeretangea o Kura-hau-pō, as he has done for the past four years.
"I still want to be involved ... in serving the needs of the local community ... plus it's a chance to catch up and have a chat with people as well," Buck said.
Barrie Buck JP officially retired from the judicial role on Wednesday, June 30.
