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Honorary Justices

The Honorary Justice Office (HJO) is responsible for appointing and managing honorary justice volunteers, a collective group consisting of Justices of the Peace (JPs) and bail justices.

Honorary Justice volunteers are individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to actively providing vital justice services to all members of the community. They are also deemed to be honourable members of the Victorian community.

Justices of the Peace

Justice of the Peace (JP) volunteers are appointed by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Attorney-General under section 115 of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1989. There are approximately 4,800 JPs in Victoria today.

The role of JP volunteers in Victoria is largely administrative, with their primary role focused on:

• attesting to the execution of a document
• witnessing a statutory declaration
• witnessing an affidavit
• certifying a true copy of an original document
• certifying a person’s identity.

To locate a JP in Victoria, you can either:

• click on the Find a Justice of the Peace link in ‘Related Pages’, or
• call 1300 365 567 (Australia only).

Bail Justices

The office of bail justice is unique to Victoria. Bail justice volunteers are appointed by the Attorney-General under section 120 of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1989. The role of bail justice volunteers includes conducting after-hours bail and remand hearings in respect of adults who are held in police custody under the Bail Act 1977 and children who are held in police custody and applications for Interim Accommodation Orders under the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005. Similar to JP volunteers, bail justice volunteers also have the power to witness statutory declarations and receive affidavits within Victoria. 

There are approximately 500 bail justice volunteers in Victoria today.

How to become a Justice of the Peace or bail justice

For information on becoming a Justice of the Peace or a bail justice you can click on How to become a Justice of the Peace or bail justice in 'Related Pages'.

What’s new

Current developments affecting honorary justice operations in Victoria include:

• the introduction of acting bail justices. The HJO has developed the appointment criteria for bail justices who have reached the age of 70 years to be appointed as acting bail justices for renewable one-year terms up to the age of 74 years.
• all JP applicants and current JPs will receive training without charge. The training will cover the core duties of the role and skills in interpersonal communication and cultural awareness. Training will commence in the coming months.
• bail justice reappointments - bail justices are now required to seek reappointment every five years. Transitional arrangements have been made in relation to this new process, and the HJO will take into account activity levels and general availability as part of the reappointment process. Additionally, the HJO will contact bail justices seeking reappointment in advance to ensure they have sufficient time to reapply.

Recent circulars and fact sheets are in the menu to the right.

Continuing communication

The HJO has resumed regular communication to honorary justices, particularly in relation to legislative changes that impact on the functions and roles of honorary justices.

As part of its strengthened focus on relationship building, the HJO is in the process of arranging to meet with metropolitan and regional honorary justice groups.

In addition, the HJO is developing a newsletter to be disseminated to all honorary justices providing updates on a range of matters including the Bail Justice Online Roster, recruitment campaigns, code of conduct issues, key contact details for the HJO as well as other features. Newsletters also can be accessed via this website.

Thank you to our volunteers

The Honorary Justice Office would like to thank all honorary justice volunteers for their continued commitment to the roles of Justice of the Peace and Bail Justice in Victoria.

Your on-going participation in the reforms will ensure that the Victorian community continues to have access to professional, supported and leading edge volunteers that provide quality justice services.