President of the Wanganui Justices of the Peace Association Laurie Hunt.
President of the Wanganui Justices of the Peace Association Laurie Hunt.
A new system of accreditation has been introduced for Justices of the Peace - and three Whanganui JPs have already received accreditation.
President of the Wanganui Justices of the Peace Association, Laurie Hunt, said the accreditation came out of the JPs' national conference in Dunedin in February.
"It's a voluntarything. Justices don't have to do it, and won't be penalised if they don't. But we encourage them to do it as it's in their best interests," Mr Hunt said.
The training modules for accreditation are taught online by the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices. Mr Hunt said JPs do two days of training every year, and accreditation is extra training on top of that.
"The training focuses on the Justices of the Peace manual, helping the JPs to become more familiar with its contents," he said.
JPs who successfully complete accreditation have the "accredited" designation next to their name on the Justices of the Peace website.
"It's not a reflection on whether they're a better JP. But it does mean people looking for a JP can be confident that they have had this extra training," Mr Hunt said.
He said expressions of interest from people interested in becoming a Justice of the Peace were always welcome. To find out more, or to find a JP, visit http://justiceofthepeace.org.nz.
