Justice of the peace

A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer, of a lower or puisne court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the same meaning. Depending on the jurisdiction, such justices dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions. Justices of the peace are appointed or elected from the citizens of the jurisdiction in which they serve, and are (or were) usually not required to have any formal legal education in order to qualify for the office. Some jurisdictions have varying forms of training for JPs.

History

In 1195, Richard I ("the Lionheart") of England commissioned certain knights to preserve the peace in unruly areas. They were responsible to the King for ensuring that the law was upheld and preserving the "King's peace". Therefore, they were known as "keepers of the peace".

An act of 1327 had referred to "good and lawful men" to be appointed in every county in the land to "guard the peace"; such individuals were first referred to as conservators of the peace, or wardens of the peace. The title justice of the peace derives from 1361, in the reign of King Edward III Plantagenet. The "peace" to be guarded is the sovereign's, the maintenance of which is the duty of the Crown under the royal prerogative. Justices of the peace still use the power conferred or re-conferred on them since 1361 to bind over unruly persons "to be of good behaviour". The bind over is not a punishment, but a preventive measure, intended to ensure that people thought likely to offend will not do so. The justices' alternative title of "magistrate" dates from the 16th century, although the word had been in use centuries earlier to describe some legal officials of Roman times.

Magistrates' court (Russia)

The magistrates' courts (Russian: Мировой суд), an office held by a magistrate or justice of the peace (Мировой судья), is a court within the judiciary of Russia.

Magistrates' courts handle criminal cases where imprisonment is for less than three years such as petty hooliganism, public drunkenness, and serious traffic violations of a non-criminal nature, minor civil cases such as simple divorces, some property cases, disputes over land, and some labor cases, as well as some federal administrative law cases.

It consists of one magistrate or justice of the peace.

History

It was introduced in Russian Empire in 1864 as part of the judicial reform of Alexander II. It was based on the British justice of the peace. It was replaced by other offices after the Russian Revolution but reintroduced formally in Russia by the 1996 Constitutional Law on the Judicial System.

The regulations in the Russian Empire provided for establishment of local courts with justices of the peace to deal with minor offences, who could not impose sentence more than one year of imprisonment. Each justice of the peace was supposed to serve in a circuit one uyezd comprising several circuits. They were elected for three years by zemstvos. However, in many areas, there was not enough candidates who could meet the requirements for election, and in other areasm, local authorities hindered the process of election. In several western regions, justices of the peace were eventually appointed by the Minister of Justice. In 1889, the whole institution was abolished everywhere except for Moscow and St. Petersburg. The powers of justices of the peace were vested in local executive authorities. They were restored in 1912, but the monarchy was already about to collapse.

The Peace!

"The Peace!" (ザ☆ピ〜ス！, Za Pīsu!) is the twelfth single of J-pop idol group Morning Musume and was released July 25, 2001. It sold a total of 682,320 copies and reached number one on the Oricon Charts. This song is also a personal favorite of ex-Morning Musume member, Rika Ishikawa, as the monologue spoken by her towards the end of the song became one of her favorite moments of being in Morning Musume.

The single version (later preserved on the Best! Morning Musume 2 anthology) contains a fade-out, suggesting to the listener that the song's multiple false endings continued infinitely. The version heard on the album 4th Ikimashoi! is billed as the "Complete Version" and does not fade out, instead coming to a stop several seconds beyond the single version's fadeout.

Members at the time of single

Track listing