To:All AssociationsCircular No. 3/2013
CC:Board19thApril 2013
For Associations action
- Appointments/Resignations
Copies of the various Gazette notices relative to the earlier approvals together with the details of those included in the recent rounds of “Provisional Approvals” have been earlier circulated.
- JP (retired)
Copies of the relevant Gazette notices are enclosed. Recall that badges will be provided to associations on request and that we will not remove them from membership until you advise us to do so.
Please note that their name is deleted from the website database routinely. If the individual wishes to retain access they or the association can let us know and they can retain their access to the website in a JP retired user group without showing to the public on Find a JP.
- Justice of the Peace Judicial duties
There are a number of issues affecting the judicial duties carried out by JPs where radical changes lie ahead.
i)CPA – yes another acronym - in this case Criminal Procedure Act– this is quite extensive. More details will be circulated shortly to both JJP’s and associations. No action is required for the time being by associations beyond JJP’s – more at the Judicial Trainers Seminars!
ii)EOM – Electronic Operating Model – more again through Sarah’s JEB etc.
With some associations being affected by the changes to Court service, there may be implications for training and funding to be considered.
EOM: formal advice has been received from the Ministry of Justiceconfirming the delay in the implementation of EOM. This delay will affect the scheduling and delivery of training for JJP’s of which we will advise further as soon as possible and Sarah will include in such as the JEB.
- Complaints
The following is from a formal advice received from the Office of Legal Counsel, Ministry of Justice following on from a number of complaints dealt with since 2007.
“Given the complexity of the provisions of the legislation, we would appreciate Royal Federation asking its associations to endeavour to deal with similar issues at a local level wherever possible including remedial training where appropriate. This is consistent with the process set out in the Best Practice Manual.”
However, associations are aware that in every instance complaints should be notified to Royal Federation (refer BPM also).
- Banners
20 associations now hold banners – (cost $130 each) – one each but with any subsequent ones on a cost recovery basis.
For Registrars action
- Quarterly Invoice
Enclosed is your Association's invoice for the Autumn 2013 issue of the Quarterly. (Any feed back of the e version?)Early settlement would be greatly appreciated
- Communications Grants
I have separately provided your associations’ Communications grant as included in the Budget approved at Conference and note that most associations have banked theirs. Just a reminder these are available for reimbursement for communication relative to Training Newsletters and associated issues– can you please make sure you send copies to us?
Can we please draw associations attention to the existing policies on communications and especially the use of this budgetary provision?
- Claims for Reimbursement of Training Expenses
A reminder that food costs for attendees are not covered and to PLEASE send supporting GST receipts/invoices where ever possible.
- Badges & Certificates
Just a reminder that associations will be provided with the initial badge and certificate for new appointees,commencing from those appointed after 1/11/08.
I have arranged for Mayer and Toye to send the badges to associations in a similar manner as for the initial stamps. Certificates are still sent direct to associations with the usual gazette notice, Oath forms etc.
Please note however, that replacement badges will still have to be ordered and paid for! Still only $12.50 including GST and p&p paid to us not M&T please – several associations seem to be missing this aspect.
- Electorate Office Kits
Can I remind associations that we have these readily available and Helen can send them out to you as and when needed? Roger Cole and one or two others have made suggestions as to enhancements to RF’s publication which still needs to accord with the BPM but the Board may be able to work through that.Recall they reflect the official Ministry of Justice material per BPM.
Registrars will recall the discussion at their meeting at the recent Conference on this topic and perhaps we need to add this to discussions at the Regional Conference to ensure the desired objectives are being met? (I see from a quick review that this issue was covered at several previous registrars meetings at conferences as noted in the respective minutes.)
The following is from the Minutes of the Registrars meeting held at Ashburton, Friday 6 March 2009:
- Electorate Kits
- As approved by the Minister, have proved useful and these continue to be available
- Discussion focused on nomination issues such as self-promotion, criteria for suitability, credibility of support statements, personal attributes/circumstances, willingness and availability to serve the public, distribution of existing JPs, movement of JPs within and across Associations, and meeting local demand for JP services
- Yellow Listings latest advices (see also Circular 10/2012)
“Thank you for your letter regards updating listings for some of your members. I will have one of my team process these over the next couple of days and confirm once complete. For future listing changes can you please send these directly toand one of my team will process as received and a confirmation of this being completed will be sent to you.
We have asked that all registrars send no more than 5 listing changes in one piece of communication to Yellow®. As you learn about changes can you please send these through immediately, please don't sit on these until you have several before sending.
I trust that this is acceptable to you, thanks
Regards NadeneNadene Gavigan
Customer Assist Manager /
Mobile +64 27 659 1407 / Telephone +64 9 583 5367 ext. 95050 / Facsimile +64 800 114 753
Level 1, 604 Great South Road, Ellerslie, Auckland 1051 / P O Box 17-157, Greenlane, Auckland 1546
yellow.co.nz
For Associations information
- 2013 Conference
Congratulations again to North Otago association in general and their organising Committee in particular for the Conference.
The AGM Minutes have been provisionally approved by the Board at their meeting 18thApril, and are attached.A copy of the notes from the Registrars & Presidents meetings are also attached together with those from the workshops.Many thanks again to those who acted as scribes for the various meetings – definitely shares the workload and assists in getting the information available faster than might otherwise be the case.
Conference 2013 Actions:
All administrative matters have been instigated.The following summary relates to remits etc.:
- Constitutional Changes:nil
- Notices of Motion:nil
- Financial:
Financial remits were passed as follows:
a)Capitation Fee
Set at $10.00 (exclusive of GST) per head, based on membership as at 31 August 2013 and payable by1 February 2014.
b)NZ Justices' Quarterly
Set at $2.00 (exclusive of GST) per copy for members and $5.00 (inclusive of GST) for non-member Justices of the Peace. (April edition invoiced at this rate)
c)Communication Grant
Grant payable to affiliated Associations is budgeted at $5.00 (inclusive of GST) per head, based on membership as at 31 August 2013. (Paid - See above)
d)Presidential Honorarium
Set at $7,500.00 (paid in 2 proportions April/November)
- Remits.
Those carried which are currently being actioned were:
(i)That Royal Federation explore with the Ministry of Justice and other agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, ways in which Justices of the Peace might extend the official range of their duties.
(ii)That Royal Federation investigate the concept of introducing a Practising Certificate to apply to all Justices of the Peace.
(iii)That Royal Federation investigate the concept of having a “Year of the Justice of the Peace.”
(iv)That Royal Federation make strong representations to the Minister of the Crown in charge of Justices of the Peace requesting the Government introduce the necessary legislation that would give judicially trained Justices of the Peace similar authority and jurisdiction as currently held by Community Magistrates.
2014 will be the 'Year of the Justice of the Peace' - publicity and development of this prior to the Conference at Waitangi to celebrate the 200thanniversary of the appointment of Thomas Kendall will take high priority.
All other items are with the draft AGM Minutes attached.
- Ministerial Manual changes:
Any feedback from the direct posting of the updates? Have attached a copy to this Circular for ease of reference.
For general information
- John Robbins
We regret to advise the death on 4th March 2013 of John Robbins, husband of Wallis Walker immediate past Auckland Regional Representative. John had been ill for some time but many members far beyond the Auckland area will recall his friendly and warm nature when meeting him especially at Conferences. Those at last year’s Conference in Tauranga will recall his delight in recounting some of his war time flying anecdotes particularly at the time of the dinner held in the Aviation Historical venue. His last illness precluded Wallis attending Conference in Oamaru and our thoughts were with her at that time. Royal Federation was represented at John’s funeral as was the Auckland association and a number of others who knew John. A quote on his funeral service encapsulated Johns approach “Don’t think of me as gone away, think of me as living in the hearts of those I touched. For nothing loved is ever lost and I am loved so much.”
- Personal!
On a personal note I have previously advised that I am in the UK for and will be off work from 4th – 31st May. With the approval of the President and Board, Duane Williams will be attending to as much of the regular work as possible with Helen & Sarah’s help.
If it is absolutely critical I will be contactable but only intermittently as we will be travelling around parts of England before and after Angela’s nephew’s wedding then spending 6 days in Spain (at Valencia to visit the Lladro works and museum). My email access will also be limited to Internet Café’s or family computers. Noel Lowe (Ashburton) and Ashley Broad (Otago) are also away during parts of May and/or June.
One aspect we are still noting is that associations are not necessarily checking the web site for basic items – see
- Contact Details
A copy of the Federation Board details is attached.
- Newsletters
Please find enclosed copies of the Ashburton, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, GoreMarlborough, Nelson, Northland, Waikato and Wellington Associations Newsletters. These have been forwarded by email when received and should your software not be able to open them I am sorry but they are forwarded in the formats we receive them in. You may need to check direct with that association for a resend or wait for these hard copies.
When including articles from other associations newsletters in your own recall that attribution is at the least a courtesy –“If you steal from one author its plagiarism; if you steal from many its research.” (Wilson Mizner) but then again “If we steal thoughts from the moderns, it will be cried down as plagiarism; if from the ancients, it will be cried up as erudition”. (Charles Caleb Colton).
Alan Hart
Registrar
ROYAL FEDERATION NZ JUSTICES ASSNS INC.
PO Box 5005Lambton Quay
Wellington 6145 / 115 Lambton Quay
Wellington / Phone (04) 918 8447
Fax (04) 918 8034
Email:
Website:
FEDERATION BOARD 2013/14
President
G J (Greg) Weake (Liz)244 A Waikawa Road
Picton7220 / Phone/fax (Hm) 03 573 6276
Mobile 0274 908 819
Immediate Past President
K J D (Kevin) Geddes(Lorraine)18 Nixon Street
Ashburton7700 / Phone (Hm) 03 307 0477
Phone (Work) 03 307 8148
Fax 03 307 8146
Mobile 027 203 3437
Email –
Vice President
G T (Graeme) Kitto (Lalita Hari)PO Box 4094
Hamilton 3247 / Phone (Hm) 07 856 2767
Mobile 021 025 085 65
Or
Regional Representatives
Auckland
P A (Pat) Samson (Sylvia)2 - 8 Beach Road
Milford
Auckland 0620 / Phone (Hm) (09) 410 5014
Fax (Hm) (09) 410 9637
Mobile 027 446 0455
Northern
Ms R J (Rachael) O'Grady (Harold)327 Haliburton Road
R D 1
Kotemaori 4188 / Phone (Hm) (06) 837 6558
Mobile 027 487 7057
Central
Miss D P (Denise) HutchinsP O Box 1415
Nelson 7040 / Phone (Hm) 03 547 5051
Phone (Work) 03 5461733
Mobile 027 244 8239
Or
Southern
C W K (Bill) Saxton (Mary)11 O RD
Oamaru 9495
(Postal: PO Box 3
Hampden
North Otago 9442)
/ Phone (Hm)03 439 4808
Phone (Work) 03 439 4808
Fax 03 439 4807
Mobile 027 201 6991
Registrar
A L (Alan) Hart(Angela).PO Box 5005
Lambton Quay
Wellington6145 / Phone (Hm) 04 934 7500
Phone (Work) 04 918 8447
Fax 04 918 8034
Mobile 021 045 7003
Email registrar@ jpfed.org.nz
NEO
S G (Sarah) LoftusPO Box 5005
Lambton Quay
Wellington6145 / Phone (Work) 04 918 8445
Fax 04 918 8034
Administration Assistant.
H J (Helen) SilverwoodPO Box 5005
Lambton Quay
Wellington6145 / Phone (Work) 04 918 8114
Fax 04 918 8034
Editor JQ
G J (Geoff) Davies81 Warwick Street
Wilton
Wellington 6012 / Phone (Hm) 04 472 5566
Fax 04 473 7781
Mobile 021 243 9566
Website survey - April 2013
This was held during the month of February. 351 responses were received. Not every respondent answered every question.
1. How often do you login to the website?
weekly - 4% fortnightly - 19% monthly - 14% this is my first time - 49%
2. How would you describe access around the website?
easy - 79% could be easier - 19% not all that easy - 3% difficult - 1%
3. Have you ever used the password recovery feature?
yes - 29% no - 69%
4. In the public area, have you searched for yourself on Find a JP?
yes - 76% no - 21%
5. In the public area have you read the history and functions of the office of justice of the peace?
yes - 79% no - 18%
6. Have you looked at About Us and seen the list of Board members, office staff as well as Presidents and Registrars?
yes - 58% no - 40%
7. Have you used the Hot News button on the Home Page?
yes - 44% no - 54%
8. In the Ministerial Services page how useful do you find the material?
very useful - 39% quite useful - 57% not very useful - 1%
9. Have you downloaded material for your personal use as a JP?
yes - 46% no - 51%
10. Are you subscribed to the RSS update feed?
yes - 15% no - 41% don't know what that is - 34%
11.Do you access other specific pages than ministerial? (Educator, president, Registrar IO etc)
yes - 50% no - 47%
12. Have you accessed the Initial Training Module and made use of the activities?
yes - 47% no - 50%
13. have you read the two sets of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
yes - 62% no - 34%
14. Have you made use of Senior Net or other technology assistance?
yes - 8% no - 90%
15. Does your association hold computer/internet education sessions?
yes - 43% no - 52%
16. How would you describe your understanding and competence with the internet?
excellent - 21% very good - 39% average - 34% poor - 2%
17. Do you expect to access the website on the next year or two...
same as now - 38% more - 56% less - 1%
18 Have you got any additional comments to make?
44% of respondents made a comment.
Some web tips from the guru.
Q? 1 I use Mozilla Firefox at home on my browser and not a trouble But I use IE at work and a meeting we went to the other night and when logging in to the fed site we were getting the following error messages Only secure content is displayed ……..What the risk………… Show all content (another great test by Zeald ) from every page we go to …..
Response:
Website:
Members who are using Internet Explore as a browser will usually experience an annoying pop-up when accessing sites with both secure and insecure content.
This pop-up asks you want you want to do. To have this message not appear you may want to do the following:-
a. Open Internet Explorer.
b. Click on the tools icon and select Internet Options.
c. Click on the Security tab and click on Custom level.
d. Under Settings go to Miscellaneous and Enable Display Mixed Content.
e. Then click OK
f. Restart Internet Explorer and check if it displays the pop-up.
Wellington, like Auckland, has a large list of Service Centres and they are listed on drop down pages.
e.g.
Links build already for Wellington Service Centres
- Another possible opportunity is for Registrars to create/discuss/edit remits for conference 2014 proposed and supported by their association on the Wikispaces page.
The address is
Issuing Officer Survey (open 4/4 closes 31/4/13)
1. When were you authorised:
2012
2013
2. Do you keep a record of your IO activity (with no identifying details)?
Yes
No
Since you were authorised as an issuing officer:
3. How many search warrant applications for police?
4. How many warrant applications for other agencies?
5. How many production order applications?
6. Therefore what is the total number of applications you have actually assessed?
Of all the applications you have had:
7 How many did you issue?
8 How many did you refuse to issue?
9. How many times have you declined to assess an application (for a reason such as watermark, conflict of interest, unavailable on that day)?
10. How many times has a police officer requested that he or she should take the application back to the police station for safekeeping, instead of you keeping it?
Search and Surveillance Act 2012 – some relevant sections
3 issuing officer means—
(a)a Judge:
(b)a person, such as a Justice of the Peace, Community Magistrate, Registrar, or Deputy Registrar, who is for the time being authorised to act as an issuing officer under section 108
108 Authorisation of issuing officers
(1) The Attorney-General may authorise any Justice of the Peace, Community Magistrate, Registrar, Deputy Registrar, or other person to act as an issuing officer for a term, not exceeding 3 years, specified in the notice of authorisation.
(2) The Attorney-General may not authorise an enforcement officer to act as an issuing officer.
(3) The Attorney-General may not authorise any Justice of the Peace, Community Magistrate, Registrar, Deputy Registrar, or other person to act as an issuing officer unless the Attorney-General is satisfied that the person has sufficient knowledge, skill, and experience to act as an issuing officer.
(4) The Attorney-General may from time to time renew an authorisation granted under subsection (1) for a further term not exceeding 3 years specified in the notice of renewal.