| SOME HISTORY OF JP's AND THE ASSOCIATION.... |
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When Captain James Stirling founded the colony of Western Australia in 1829, he appointed eight Justices of the Peace originally referred to as ‘Conservators of the Peace’ to “inquire into the truth of felonies, poisonings, enchantments, sorceries, act-magic, trespasses, forestalling, regratings, ingrossing’s and extortions whatsoever”. Captain Stirling gave the Western Australian Justices of the Peace the same powers as their UK counterparts, who have helped uphold the law under the Justices of the Peace Act since 1361. It is this important Act that gives the Justice of the Peace powers to try offenders without a jury and formed the basis of the WA court of Petty Sessions. Western Australia’s first Justices of the Peace were also required to carry out a wide range of duties labeled as ‘administrative’ these included the organizing searches for lost children, reporting on movements of Aborigines and establishing the whereabouts of absconding seamen. They were also required to trial civil disputes between ‘master and servant’. Until 1852, Justices of the Peace in Western Australia, like those in the UK, were also expected to control the local police; with constables required to ‘wait upon Justices’ and exercise their warrants. The control of constables also fell on the shoulders of Stipendiary Magistrates who were always sworn in as ‘Justices of the Peace’ and acted as agents of the Government in passing official instructions to settlers. Stipendiary Magistrates supervised the work of other Justices of the Peace in their districts and presided over non-capital criminal trials, a practice that continued in some parts of WA until the District Court Act of 1970. Today Magistrates remain the senior Justices under the control of a Chief Magistrate. But whilst the role of the magistrate has changed significantly over the years, their relationship with Justices of the Peace today remains as it was at the foundation of the colony.
The first appointments of Justice of the Peace for women were made in June, 1920. There was much opposition from some Members of Parliament of the day towards these appointments, and in 1925 it was decided that a separate Association was necessary for women. This would allow them to address specific issues that could not be appropriately addresses by male Justices. On February 25th. 1925, Mrs. Amelia MacDonald called a meeting, which included Mesdames A. MacDonald, E. Cowan, J. Beadle, E. Mellows, Casper and Rapley. Members were aware that opposition existed to giving women full recognition in some areas of service. In a speech Mrs. MacDonald stated that… ‘Our belief is that the walls of prejudice must fall before the onslaught of earnest, competent women, exercising their right to a voice on key issues, demand, not by favour, but by ability, their right to full Citizenship of the State. with a share in its responsibilities, as well as its privileges for public service’ Over subsequent years membership of the Association grew, and requests for submissions on various topics of social interest were made….
Membership flourished through the years, and in June, 2000 a 75th Anniversary celebration was held over a long weekend. Members were active on all rosters for signing centres and court rosters, and also were nominated for places on the Royal Association of Justices of W.A. (Inc). Three members have served as President – Mrs. Dorothy Dettman, Mrs. Dianne Annear and Mrs. Laurel Wareham In November 2008, sadly the decision was made to close the Association. At the time of the 75th Anniversary, a book on the History of the Women Justices’ Association was written. Copies of ‘Walls of Prejudice’ are available at the RAJ office
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