Wednesday, 13 February 2019

All About The Justice Of The Peace

By Patricia Foster


Civil justice cases and minor infractions occur at a pace that overtakes the capabilities of the limited number of high courts. However, most of these complaints need not at all fester or reach that far. They may be capably resolved by a Justice of The Peace Salem.

A JP is essentially a judicial officer of a so called puisne, or lower, court. He is either appointed or elected, and his task is, you guessed it, keeping the peace. Over history, this position has been tantamount to many kinds of positions like commissioners, keepers, conservators, or wardens, but their responsibilities are pretty much intuitive and set in stone.

These civil public officers basically perform judicial acts, and they come in sundry appellation in many different places and points of time. Historically, for example, they have been called wardens, or keepers or conservators of peace. Nowadays, they are variously referred to as magistrates or district judges. Their jurisdiction is generally limited to townships, precincts, counties, cities, and in some cases, states.

The JP necessarily has to be someone of good nature and stature in the community, with no adverse record at the very least. Although the criteria of appointment are diverse, this is pretty rigid. He has to be knowledgeable and trustworthy, given the technicality of his functions, like certifying copies, witnessing and signing statutory affidavits, and some such sensitive operations that they are authorized to do by virtue of their position.

For instance, they may preside over cases of traffic violations, neighbor disputes, or else small debt repayments, and other relatively small scale lawsuits. In sum, they serve as entry level courts, and the particular case may therein be resolved or else passed to the high court. In that sense, they are convenient since they offer an accessible outlet which people can approach without complicated logistics and without the bane of longer distances.

Mandatory duties are outlined in the law, such that they should be an active board member of civil authorities. They must assist on Election Day, and they should preside on tax appeals and be a board member in cases of tax abatement. The negligence of these duties may result in penalizations. On the other hand, discretionary tasks include presiding over marriages, serving as magistrates, administering oaths, and some such. These are functions in which JPs have power to perform but they do not really have to, but when their services are tapped upon, then they must not discriminate based on prohibited factors like race, sexual orientation, religion, et cetera.

The general duties of the JP are basically those involving elections, tax abatement and appeals, marriages, notaries and oaths, or act as magistrates. They deal with affidavits, certifying documents, powers of attorney, statutory declarations, and some such. Their position really ranges over a lot of specialized, technical duties.

A JP plays an important role in civil infractions. They prevent a particular case from blowing up out of proportion by addressing them as soon as the complaints are lodged. They act as some kind of municipal magistrate that deal with lawsuits and small claims cases. Although these cases are deemed as considerably nugatory, they are not at all negligible. After all, we know the worth of the payments of small debts, the overturning of evictions, the prevention of domestic abuse, and the general resolution of lawsuits.

This justice occupies an office that is by consensus the most popular and numerous membership of public office. In fact, in a certain town of average population, there may be at least five justices. In considerably populated towns, there may even be as many as fifteen. However, although they are not really present and conspicuous, it would do to remark on the good service and usefulness of this office.




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