Notes from February Council meeting

The Council of the Auckland Justices of the Peace Association met for the first meeting of 2023 on February 8th.

• Council members were welcomed back to the Council table, recognising that many Justices had provided a continuous service to clients over the holiday period, and through multiple storms. Sympathy was expressed for those who are affected by flooding.
• The Auckland District Court was significantly water damaged, with our Registrar only able to access the office yesterday. However the office is now open.
• Professional development got off to an early start with a large online Accreditation course in January/February. 
• Final sittings and thanks have been extended to retiring Judicial Justices. 
• A number of Justices have still not paid their subscription fees which were due 31 December 2022. These people will be contacted again, because AJPA have already paid capitation fees to the Royal Federation for these members.
• The Support Group Coordinators and Support Group Rosterers’ annual seminar will be held on April 15th. An agenda for the meeting will be circulated prior to the event.
• Work is progressing on reconsidering boundaries between Support Groups. Clearer guidelines for SGC & SGR roles are also being developed. Both SG boundaries and the new guidelines will be discussed further with attendees on April 15th.
• Statistics about the number of clients we see at Service Desks and numbers of documents processed are still trickling in too slowly. We need these numbers to explain just how much work Auckland Justices carry out.  Please take responsibility for getting YOUR personal Service Desk statistics reported promptly – ideally through the self-collating electronic system.
• Dates for HUB Professional Development sessions in April/May/June have been sent to Council Liaison Representatives and Hub Managers so they can start booking dates and locations.  First in, first served!
• A Judicial Justices’ training programme is about to commence for 2023, with four candidates from Auckland selected.
• A subcommittee has been set up to coordinate, update, and organise training for those Justices appointed for Special Functions (Issuing Officers, Section 9 & Nominated Persons)
• The Royal Federation’s Annual Conference is being held in Invercargill on March 10-12.  The majority of AJPA council, and several members will attend to contribute to the national organisation and its plans.