Council Marks Service of JPs

The Highland Council recently held a civic reception at Portree to mark the service to Skye and Lochalsh of court and signing Justices of the Peace, many of whom are retiring as the result of changes, which have taken effect to lay justice provisions. Similar ceremonies are being held at venues of Highland District Courts, namely Wick, Dornoch, Tain, Dingwall, Inverness, Nairn and Kingussie.

There were 31 Justices of the Peace, 13 of whom served on the bench. Nine will continue to serve as JPs in the new JP Courts, which will take over from the District Courts on 2 June, this year, while the remaining 22 have retired.
At the ceremony at Tigh na Sgire, all JPs received certificates while those who served on the bench also received a paperweight.

Before the changes, Justices of the Peace had two roles.  Some presided over the District Courts, while the majority, were signing JPs ie signing important documents, such as oaths, matrimonial papers, different types of application forms, and a wide variety of different statutory declarations and documents which require signature authentication.

From mid December, last year, the responsibility for signing these documents fell to court JPs and the 80 Councillors, who serve on The Highland Council.

At the Portree ceremony, Councillor Drew Millar paid tribute to the service of JPs. He said: “It’s the end of an era. The voluntary service of justices to the local community, whether sitting on the bench or by signing documents, is greatly appreciated and has been an outstanding commitment to public service in the area over many years.”
 
The other JPs received certificates noting their service to their communities.