Hon Nick Goiran questions the Attorney General regarding Magistrates Court practice direction 1 of 2020, which removed JPs' ability to constitute a court. The Attorney General deflects some questions to the Chief Magistrate.

AnsweredQoN 142Legislative Assembly
Asked
1 May 2025
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

Practice direction 1 of 2020
142. Hon Nick Goiran to
the parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney
General:
I refer to
Magistrates Court of Western Australia practice direction 1 of 2020, which
removed constituting a court from the role of justices of the peace.
(1) Who was consulted prior to the issuance of
this practice direction?
(2) Has the Attorney General received any
complaints regarding this practice direction?
(3) When was the practice direction last reviewed?
(4) What judicial functions are JPs currently
authorised to perform in Western Australia?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member
for some notice of the question. I read the answer provided by the Attorney
General.
(1) Practice direction 1 of 2020 was issued by the
Chief Magistrate. The issuance of practice directions is a matter for the Chief
Magistrate and it is not appropriate for the Attorney General to comment on
practice directions.
(2) The current Attorney General has not received
any complaints regarding this practice direction.
(3) Refer to part (1).
(4) Justices of the peace can currently perform
the judicial functions of signing search warrants and can be appointed as a
visiting justice in Western Australian prisons.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more