Collie’s Justices of the Peace are looking for more people in the district and surrounding areas to join the service.
Local Justice of the Peace Ian Miffling volunteers in the Justice of the Peace signing centre on the fourth Monday and second Thursday of each month at the Margaretta Wilson Centre in Collie’s CBD.
Mr Miffling said they were currently looking for more people who would be available to take on signing centre duties and court work at the Collie courthouse.
“Not all JPs are able to get here to do the rosters, that’s why we sort of double up in times of holidays, we’ve got enough to keep it going as far as the roster is now,” he said.
“Whilst it would be good to have some younger JPs they have also got to be available to do the full sweep of duties because being a JP is not just having ‘JP’ after your name you have to do the work.”
He said many people found it difficult to balance JP work along with employment and other duties.
He said he understood that becoming a JP involved numerous duties and being available virtually 24 hours of the day.
“It’s a commission that’s 24/7, when I took my oath I promised to serve the public virtually 24/7 so if I’m needed come up after tea, come up Saturday morning, come up Sunday I don’t care,” he said.
“There is a lot of people like that that are working in the mines or I get people from Worsley and all sorts of things.
“That’s how it fits in, I guess we are virtually a public service. We’re appointed and we’re just doing our best to fill the gaps when people need us."
In the signing centre, JPs work on legal documents including affidavits, search warrants, passport applications and statutory declarations.
People looking to enroll as a Justice of the Peace can apply through the Department of the Attorney General’s official website, talk to the local member of parliament or inquire through the local magistrate at a court house.
Mr Miffling said a lack of JPs in a community would put strain on the police and justice departments.
The Collie Justice of Peace signing centre is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday each week from 9.30am to 12pm.
2017 marks the 10th year that the Justice of the Peace signing centre has been run in Collie.
