This information sheet is designed to provide you with some information in response to your enquiry about becoming a Justice of the Peace.

Becoming a Justice of the Peace is one way you can serve your community. The role is a voluntary and unpaid one.

Justices of the Peace are available to exercise their role from their own homes on request but, more commonly, take time to volunteer on a “JP Service Desk” at 1 of our 10 sites across the Hutt Valley (mainly in Public Libraries). 

It is hard to assess the actual time required but you are in control of your time and/or availability.

Who is Suitable?

An ideal nominee for a JP is someone who has community links and is happy to be regularly available to everyone, whether it is at a workplace or community setting.

We are especially looking for diversity, younger JPs still in the workforce, people with iwi links, and people who can speak more than one language.

JPs must also be confident working on a computer.

Nominees must:

• have a good command of both written and spoken English

• be confident computer users

• declare all criminal convictions and not be bankrupt

• attach Letters of support are required from two Community Groups where the nominee does volunteer work

How do I apply to become a JP

If you would like to become a Justice of the Peace, the first step is to download and complete the nomination form (see link below). Do not sign the Statutory Declaration part of the form until you are in front of a Justice of the Peace. Then contact your local Member of Parliament’s office for an appointment to deliver your completed nomination form. 

Your MP will usually interview you (with your whānau if you wish), before passing the form on to the Ministry of Justice. 

Once checked by the Ministry of Justice and accepted in principle as suitable, there is an interview with a senior member of our JP Association and a representative from the Ministry of Justice. You are welcome to bring whānau to this interview as well.

If both the Ministry of Justice and the Association recommend you to be a JP, then the Ministry will issue “provisional approval” and you will be trained in the “Ministerial” functions of a Justice of the Peace so you can confidently:

• Witness signatures on documents

• Certify copies of documents (including email attachments and phone messages)

• Take Oaths, Statutory Declarations and Affidavits

• Confirm a person’s identity

Once an application has been signed off by the Governor-General, the final steps are publication of your name in the New Zealand Gazette followed by a swearing-in ceremony in before a District Court Judge at your local District Court (whānau are welcome to attend this event).

Note that this entire process could take up to 12 months.

A newly appointed JP cannot exercise their jurisdiction until a District Court Judge has sworn them into office. Prior to their swearing in, JPs are required to undertake an introduction training course provided by their local Justices of the Peace Association.

All JPs are expected to carry out the duties under the “Justices of the Peace Act 1957” and the “Oaths and Declarations Act 1957”.  

You can read or download copies of the Legislation at www.legislation.govt.nz

JP Nomination Form

Refer to the “Further Information” section at the end of this document. You can complete the Nomination form (but remember not to sign it until you are before a JP!) and add any required attachments. The form can be returned to your local MP’s Electorate or Parliamentary Office.:

Remutaka Electorate: Rt Hon Chris Hipkins MP

Electorate Office, Taita, Electorate Office, Upper Hutt

1195 High Street 7E Gibbons Street

Telephone: (04) 567 0156 Telephone: (04) 528 5715

Note: his Electorate Secretary at the Taita Office is a JP and would be willing to complete take the Statutory Declaration for you.

Hutt South Electorate:  Hon Chris Bishop MP

Electorate Office, Wainuiomata Electorate Office, Lower Hutt

126 Main Road 66 Bloomfield Terrace

Telephone: (04) 564 8707 Telephone: (04) 566 8580

Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Electorate: Cushla Tangaere-Manual MP                                                                                       

Parliament Office: Parliament Buildings, Molesworth Street, Wellington

Telephone: (04) 817 9999

Te Tai Tonga Electorate:  Tākuta Ferris MP

Parliament Office: Parliament Buildings, Molesworth Street, Wellington

Telephone: (04) 817 9999

Further Information

Click here to download a nomination form: Justice of the Peace Nomination Form.   

This website from the Ministry of Justice provides more information about the functions of a JP and the appointment process: Ministry of Justice website

If you still have questions or, if you need more information, visit the “Contact Us” section on our website: www.huttjp.org.nz

We look forward to hearing from you.