Queen's Peace - Justice of The Peace

Justice of The Peace

Historically, and in particular before the founding of the police and the modern legal system, the concept of the Queen's peace was much more important. Knights of the Peace were appointed in each shire, and it was their duty to maintain the Queen's peace. These Knights of the Peace later became known as Justices of the Peace, or JPs, and subsequently as magistrates. In the United Kingdom, paid magistrates are now called District Judges, and are drawn from the ranks of local solicitors and barristers. Unpaid magistrates are volunteers from the community – the requirements are that they must be of good character and local residence.

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Famous quotes containing the words justice and/or peace:

    Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here, who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may. I quarrel not with far-off foes, but with those who, near at home, coöperate with, and do the bidding of, those far away, and without whom the latter would be harmless.
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