justice of the peace

justice of the peace. The term first appears in Irish law in 1410, as a new name for the keeper of the peace. Although the military dimension of the original office continued strongly into the 16th century, justices also held the power by 1415 to convene courts of quarter session for the trial of minor civil and criminal cases, and were required to be active in enforcing the law. Serious offenders were to be bound over or remanded in custody to appear in the superior courts. The post was unpaid, and jurisdiction was limited by county boundaries. Appointments, generally made on the nomination of local magnates, were by the lord chancellor, who issued a commission in the name of the monarch. In some boroughs, charters made provision for certain townsmen to act as justices. By 1638 it was thought viable to publish a handbook for Irish justices, who now operated more regularly and took on a greater role in the kingdom's administration.

During the 18th century justices acquired new duties, including a limited summary jurisdiction, and a role in tax collection. Their numbers rose from 2,000 in 1760 to 3,000 by 1798. Around 10 per cent of justices were clergymen, the rest mainly members of the resident gentry. Catholics could not hold the commission of the peace, and suspected Jacobites were also excluded, although the relatively small number of resident gentry available meant that exclusion on party political grounds was less common than in contemporary England. Fairly frequent accusations of corruption in the early part of the century were attributed by critics to the recruitment of men of inadequate social standing. It is also clear that only a minority of those in the commission of the peace at any one time (one estimate is as low as one in five) actively exercised their powers.

With the intensification of sectarian and political conflict in the last decades of the century, the rural gentry came to seem increasingly inadequate as agents of law enforcement. Before and during the insurrection of 1798 some justices absconded, while others were criticized for indiscriminate brutality. Reforms of the commission of the peace in 1822–3, and again in the period of the Lichfield House compact, sought to weed out the inactive and conspicuously partisan. The belated appearance of petty sessions (see courts of law) also reduced the scope for individual abuses of power. But the long‐term solution was to bypass the local magistracy in favour of officials, resident magistrates, and the Royal Irish Constabulary, under central government control.

During the Anglo‐Irish War republican intimidation and the appeal of the Dáil courts undercut the remaining authority of the justices. Partition led to the abolition of the office in the Irish Free State, though the concept was continued through the offices of district justices and peace commissioners. In Northern Ireland justices of the peace continued to play a role, though from 1935 they lost their judicial powers, which were entirely delegated to the resident magistrates.

Bibliography

Mc Dowell, R. B. , The Irish Administration 1801–1914 (1964)

Neal Garnham