Attorney General Joe Berinson has applauded the enormous, unpaid contribution made to Western Australia by the State's 2,997 Justices of the Peace.
Speaking at the Royal Association of Justices seminar in Rockingham today, Mr Berinson said there were a number of examples in recent years where community work which had been done on an honorary basis had become salaried for want of adequate volunteers.
"This has not been the case with JPs, who have not only maintained the tradition of contributing service on an entirely honorary basis, but have actively sought to increase the amount and quality of that service," he said.
The recent move to require new JPs to undertake training courses - an initiative strongly encouraged by the Royal Association of Justices - was an example of that strong commitment to quality.
Western Australia's JPs range in age from 27 to 95 years, and fulfill duties ranging from witnessing documents and granting restraining orders to issuing summonses and search and arrest warrants, dealing with bail applications, and in some centres, presiding in the Courts of Petty Sessions.
They are effectively on call 24-hours-a-day and not immune from being woken late at night to fulfil those duties.
Mr Berinson today outlined two changes to the JP system intended to better spread present workloads and also further improve public access.
In all but exceptional cases, he said all new applicants for JP appointments in the metropolitan area would now be required to give an undertaking to participate in JP rosters at courts and lock-ups.
In addition, recognising that there would always be a proportion of JPs who were no longer active due to age, infirmity or other circumstances, a special register of 'inactive' JPs would shortly be compiled.
This would ensure that applications for new appointments were considered in terms of actual rather than nominal numbers of JPs in a particular area, that members of the public were not referred to justices who were unavailable to assist them for various reasons, and JPs who were unable to help would not be approached.
