Or for the full details refer to Section 17 of the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners for Declarations Act 1991
Who can become a JP or Cdec
To become a JP or Cdec you must be:
- an Australian citizen
- at least 18 years old
- of good character
- registered on the Queensland electoral roll
You must also have completed the relevant training course: Course in Providing Community Justice Services (Commissioner for Declarations) (Justice of the Peace [Qualified]).
Disqualification from office
(1) A person is not qualified to be appointed to, or to continue in, office under this Act as an appointed justice of the peace or as an appointed commissioner for declarations if the person—
(a) is an insolvent under administration within the meaning of the Corporations Act, section 9; or
(b) is or has been convicted of an indictable offence, whether dealt with on indictment or summarily; or
(c) is or has been convicted of an offence against this Act; or
(d) is or has been convicted of more than 2 relevant offences; or
(e) within the last 5 years—
(i) has been convicted of a relevant offence; or
(ii) has been convicted of an offence under the Road Use Act, section 79 or 80; or
(f) within the last 4 years, has been convicted of more than 2 offences under the Road Use Act.
(2) Also, if a person has been convicted of more than 6 offences under the Road Use Act in a 4 year period, the person is not qualified to be appointed to, or to continue in, office under this Act as an appointed justice of the peace or as an appointed commissioner for declarations for 5 years after the date of the last conviction.
(3) Subsections (1)(f) and (2) do not apply to an offence in relation to regulated parking under the Road Use Act, chapter 5, part 6.
(4) For subsections (1)(f) and (2), a person who pays an amount by way of penalty for an offence, without court proceedings being involved, in compliance with a notice fixed to a vehicle or given to the person under the Road Use Act is taken to have been convicted under that Act of the offence on the day the amount is paid.
(5) The Minister may exempt an applicant for appointment as a commissioner for declarations from a disqualification mentioned in subsection (1)(f) or subsection (2) if the Minister considers special circumstances exist.
(7) In this section—
relevant offence means an offence other than—
(a) an offence under the Road Use Act; or
(b) an offence mentioned in subsection (1)(b) or (c).
Road Use Act means the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995.
If you have any doubt whatsoever about your eligibility to become a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Declarations, please contact the JP Branch on 1300 301 147. Your criminal and traffic history will be checked upon the processing of your application with the Department.
QJA does not accept responsibility if you enrol into our course and then discover you are not eligible to become a Justice of the Peace or Commissioner for Declarations. You will not be eligible for a refund in this situation.