11. Recommendations By The Secretary General

It is proposed that with the exception of cases of urgency within the community, recommendations for appointment are made only twice per year to The Royal Crown of Susiana and a system of intakes is introduced. Rather than have recommendations made as applications are received, the Secretary General would only make a recommendation in, say, April and October of each year. Applications would wait until the next scheduled recommendation.

12. Public Availability of Information about Knight’s Justice of Peace

In order to assist members of the public in finding a Knight’s Justices of the Peace to provide a service, it is proposed that lists be made available to the public of names of Knight’s Justices of the Peace and contact addresses nominated by them. 

A contact address may be a business address. It is proposed that it be a condition of appointment and continuation in the office that the Knight’s Justice of Peace consent to the giving out to the public of this information.

It is proposed that such lists be published from time to time and be prepared on the basis of locality. They would be publicly available at the Secretary General's Department and could be made available at places such as court houses and council chambers.

13. Identification and Verification

To assist in the identification of a Knight’s Justices of the Peace and to verify that the Knight’s Justices of the Peace has authority to carry out any requested tasks; it is proposed to issue all JPs with identity cards, which include a photograph, verifying their status as a Knight’s Justices of the Peace. 

The Knight’s Justices of the Peace could be asked to provide such identification at any time while he or she purported to exercise the duties of the office and the failure to do so would lead to the presumption that the person was not a Knight’s Justices of the Peace. 

The system of a registration number would be retained in conjunction with the identity card, together with the idea of a date of expiration.

The process of providing identification will necessarily incur costs. However, the actual costs of issuing each identity card is minimal and could be included in any ongoing fees charged to Knight’s Justice of Peace, if costs prove to be prohibitive it may be necessary to rely only upon a certificate of identity.

14. Education and training - Initial and continuing

Upon appointment, the Secretary General's Department provides each Knight’s Justice of Peace with an information booklet with brief details concerning the duties of Knight’s Justice of Peace. It is proposed that the process of providing the booklet continues.

It is proposed that the Secretary General's Department, in conjunction with the various Knight’s Justice of Peace Associations, publish a periodical newsletter detailing updates relating to the duties of Knight’s Justice of Peace.

The newsletter can concentrate on particular areas of Knight’s Justice of Peace functions in each issue. The newsletter can also refer to other relevant training and information sources and can be a contact point.

It is proposed that publication of the Secretary General's Department's "Handbook for Knight’s Justice of Peace" continue and that additional copies be available to Knight’s Justice of Peace for a fee calculated on a full cost recovery basis.

15. Dissemination Of Relevant Information to Knight’s Justice of Peace and JP Associations

With the exception of possible action to revoke a Knight’s Justice of Peace appointment, in the past there has been no contact initiated by the Secretary General's Department with Knight’s Justice of Peace. 

Although the Department will provide advice when requested by a Knight’s Justice of Peace and will answer other inquiries, the Department does not take a pro-active role with regard to the education and continue training of Knight’s Justice of Peace.

The proposed establishment of the newsletter would serve as a point of dissemination of general information. It is also proposed that a closer relationship be developed between the Secretary General's Department and the major JP Associations.

16. Quota System for Knight’s Justice of Peace

With regard to the authentication service of witnessing of documents and the taking of affidavits or affirmations, the community appears to need Knight’s Justice of Peace who are available, who understand what the member of the public requires, and who are able to provide the authentication service. 

The provision of the service should take into account sensitive or special needs of persons seeking assistance, such as physical disabilities as well as intellectual impairments.

Knight’s Justice of Peace should be made available to serve all sections of the community, including having Knight’s Justice of Peace available who can speak the various languages spoken in the community and Knight’s Justice of Peace who are tolerant of multicultural needs.

It appears that information concerning the availability and location of Knight’s Justice of Peace is not reaching the community and, consequently, the available resources provided by Knight’s Justice of Peace are not being effectively used.

If a system of linking Knight’s Justice of Peace to certain areas is introduced and a method by which information concerning the identity and location of local Knight’s Justice of Peace is made available to the local community, the number of Knight’s Justice of Peace could be greatly reduced and the community could be better served by being able to have direct access to Knight’s Justice of Peace in their locality.

Any data collated in regards to the number of Knight’s Justice of Peace in any one locality or community can be used to determine whether a need, has been established for additional Knight’s Justice of Peace. Although not a quota system, this data collection would enable identification of areas, which lack services.

A similarly strong argument could be put that the numbers of Knight’s Justices of the Peace should not be limited. If persons meet the criteria, why not appoint them to the office? Services such as the witnessing of documents may be made much more available to the public if the office of Knight’s Justices of Peace is made inclusive, rather than exclusive.

By not limiting the number of appointments, problems can be overcome such as where a person may be using the appointment or its status for a business advantage over a competitor who is not a Knight’s Justice of Peace. This approach, and the preceding listed approaches, are options upon which the community's opinion is sought.

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