| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | What sort of persons shall be justices of peace; and what authority they shall have. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 34 Edw. 3. c. 1 |
Status: Amended | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Justices of the Peace Act 1361 (34 Edw. 3. c. 1) is an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act, although amended, remains enforceable in England and Wales in 2022. [2]
Maintaining the peace had long been a concern of society and part of the common law, but that aspect of the common law was enshrined into statute by the enactment of the Justices of the Peace Act 1361. [3] [4] The primary reason for the legislation was due to concerns about soldiers returning from the war in France, and the potential of them not reintegrating back into their communities as peaceful citizens. [3]
The Act defined who was eligible to become a justice of the peace, their duties and their powers. It detailed that each county assigned a lord and three of four worthy people to become justices of the peace. The role of a justice of the peace was to deal with 'offenders, rioters, and all other barators'. It empowered them to apprehend, arrest, and punish them, in accordance with the 'law and customs of the realm'. [5]
The Act empowered a justice of the peace to imprison offenders, bind them over with sureties to be of good behaviour towards the Crown and people of the realm, and set fines, specifying the fine should be 'reasonable and just' according to the circumstances of the offence. [5]
The Act applied to Ireland, but was not of much importance until the so-called Land War of 1879–1882, a highly organised campaign for tenant's rights. Lay magistrates, anxious to find a legal device to suppress the mass meetings which were a key part of the campaign, sought legal advice from the central government. The Crown's legal advice was that they should invoke the power in the 1361 Act to bind offenders over to keep the peace. The advice was controversial due to the reference in the Act to "rioters": it was argued that since the meetings were largely peaceful they could not possibly come within the definition of riot. Due to these concerns, widespread use of the Act soon ceased.
The role of justice of the peace, now often known as magistrates, originates from the Justices of the Peace Act 1361. The powers and responsibilities of them have altered over their long history. A justice of the peace held powerful sentencing powers such as hanging, whipping and penal transportation. Justices of the peace gained an array of duties such as dealing with local infrastructures such as roads and bridges, and regulating weights and measures used by traders. Many of the duties of justice of the peace, due to the development of local administration, were transferred to local government authorities. [6]
As of 2018 [update] , about 21,500 volunteers service as a justice of the peace in magistrates' courts. Typically, they deal with low-level offences and crimes, and deal with 95% of criminal cases taken to court. [7] The maximum sentence a magistrates' court can impose is six months imprisonment for a single offence, or 12 months imprisonment for multiple offences, and an unlimited fine. [7] A magistrates' court is the starting point for the majority of the most serious types of crime that are later committed to the Crown Court. [7] [8] An appeal court against a decision made in a Magistrate Court is the appeal is heard by two Justice of the Peace sitting with a Judge. [8]
In addition to criminal cases, magistrates also hear youth court cases, involving people under 18 years old, civil cases, such as non-payment of Council Tax, and sit in family proceedings courts. [7]
The Justices of the Peace Act 1361 permitted a justice of the peace to bind over people who disturbed the peace to provide recognisance to ensure their future good conduct. [9] [3]
A breach of the peace can occur at any place, including private houses. The modern definition of a breach of the peace is:
There is a Breach of the Peace when,
- harm is actually done, or is likely to be done, to a person, whether by the conduct of the person against whom a breach of the peace is alleged or by someone whom it provokes;, or
- harm is actually done, or is likely done, to a person's property in his presence
- a person is genuinely in fear of harm to himself or to his property in his presence as a result of an assault, affray, riot or other disturbance" [10]
Any person can make an arrest or a preventative measure when,
Binding over orders originate from the Justices of the Peace Act 1361. A person can be taken to court to be bound over, formally known as being bound over to keep the peace, after 2013, the specifics of what a person cannot do is tighter and clearly defined on the bind-over order. [11] A breach of the peace is a civil law case, although it uses the criminal standard of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt'. [12] After 7 October 2013, the Criminal Practice Direction [2013] EWCA Crim 1631 contain the full court procedures for Binding over orders for any matter, including breach of the peace. [11]
A person must agree to be bound over. In a magistrates' court, a person refusing to be bound over is dealt with under the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980, and liable to imprisonment up to a maximum of six months or until they comply with the order. In the Crown Court, such a refusal is dealt with as contempt of court. [12]
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the court. A similar attitude toward a legislative body is termed contempt of Parliament or contempt of Congress. The verb for "to commit contempt" is contemn and a person guilty of this is a contemnor.
The courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales.
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or puisne court, elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the same meaning. Depending on the jurisdiction, such justices dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are usually not required to have any formal legal education in order to qualify for the office. Some jurisdictions have varying forms of training for JPs.
A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which sheriffs encouraged ordinary citizens to help apprehend law breakers.
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judicial and executive powers. In other parts of the world, such as China, a magistrate was responsible for administration over a particular geographic area. Today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters. In other jurisdictions, magistrates are typically trained volunteers appointed to deal with criminal and civil matters in their local areas.
The legal term peace, sometimes king's peace or queen's peace, is the common-law concept of the maintenance of public order.
Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct.
A hybrid offence, dual offence, Crown option offence, dual procedure offence, offence triable either way, or wobbler is one of the special class offences in the common law jurisdictions where the case may be prosecuted either summarily or as indictment. In the United States, an alternative misdemeanor/felony offense lists both county jail and state prison as possible punishment, for example, theft. Similarly, a wobblette is a crime that can be charged either as a misdemeanor or an infraction, for example, in California, violating COVID-19 safety precautions.
The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong, it exercises the judicial power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes, including all public and private law matters.
Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group is about to start an act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then termed a riot. In England, the offence was abolished in 1986, but it exists in other countries.
In England and Wales, a magistrates' court is a lower court which hears matters relating to summary offences and some triable either-way matters. Some civil law issues are also decided here, notably family proceedings. In 2010, there were 320 magistrates' courts in England and Wales; by 2020, a decade later, 164 of those had closed. The jurisdiction of magistrates' courts and rules governing them are set out in the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980.
Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is a statutory offence of aggravated assault in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Hong Kong and the Solomon Islands. It has been abolished in the Republic of Ireland and in South Australia, but replaced with a similar offence.
In the law of England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions, binding over is an exercise of certain powers by the criminal courts used to deal with low-level public order issues. Both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court may issue binding-over orders in certain circumstances.
The youth justice system in England and Wales comprises the organs and processes that are used to prosecute, convict and punish persons under 18 years of age who commit criminal offences. The principal aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending by children and young persons.
In the United Kingdom there are several crimes that arise from failure to take care of health, safety and welfare at work.
A justice of the peace court is the lowest authoritative type of criminal court in Scotland. The court operates under summary procedure and deals primarily with less serious criminal offences.
The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is the main legislation on procedure for administration of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974. It provides the machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt or innocence of the accused person and the determination of punishment of the guilty. It also deals with public nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child and parents.
In England and Wales, magistrates are trained volunteers, selected from the local community, who deal with a wide range of criminal and civil proceedings. They are also known as Justices of the Peace. In the adult criminal court, magistrates decide on offences which carry up to twelve months in prison, or an unlimited fine. Magistrates also sit in the family court where they help resolve disputes that involve children, and in the youth court which deals with criminal matters involving young people aged 10-17. Established over 650 years ago, the magistracy is a key part of the judiciary of England and Wales, and it is a role underpinned by the principles of 'local justice' and 'justice by one's peers'.
Sentencing in England and Wales refers to a bench of magistrates or district judge in a magistrate's court or a judge in the Crown Court passing sentence on a person found guilty of a criminal offence. In deciding the sentence, the court will take into account a number of factors: the type of offence and how serious it is, the timing of any plea of guilty, the defendant's character and antecedents, including their criminal record and the defendant's personal circumstances such as their financial circumstances in the case of a fine being imposed.
The Scottish Sentencing Council is an advisory non-departmental public body in Scotland that produces sentencing guidelines for use in the High Court of Justiciary, sheriff courts and justice of the peace courts. Judges, sheriffs, and justices of the peace must use the guidelines to inform the sentence they pronounce against a convict, and they must give reasons for not following the guidelines.