Magistrates make way for JPs Richard the Lionheart appointed them to keep the peace during his 12th century reign. Now Justices of the Peace will be tasked with helping to clear the backlog and speed up the time it takes to finalise minor civil disputes heard in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The Legal Affairs and Safety Committee have recommended the QCAT Justices of the Peace amendment bill pass, which given the government's majority is now a foregone conclusion. It means the role of JPs will be expanded and enhanced to allow them to hear minor disputes which have reached the tribunal. Two JPs, one of whom must be a lawyer, will begin hearing disputes in key regions - Brisbane, the Gold and Sunshine Coasts, Ipswich and Townsville - in June. Minor disputes are defined as anything with a value under $5000 including small debts and damage claims, trader and consumer disputes and non-urgent residential tenancy matters. The government estimates between 3750 and 4000 applications would be able to be heard under the new trial system. Any dispute worth more than $5000 and evictions will continue to be heard by magistrates, adjudicators and the judicial registrar. A spokesman for the Attorney-General's office said 32 legally qualified JPs had applied and had been nominated for appointment while from the 106 non-legally qualified JPs who applied for the trial program, 81 had been nominated for appointment. Queensland Law Society vice president Ian Brown welcomed the government's attempt to increase people's "access to justice" but said he had reservations about the proposal. "There are essentially non-legally qualified people who are involved in a decision making process that goes to the essential legal rights of people and there are alternatives that we think could have been looked at, should be looked at, and they include retired solicitors, barristers or indeed judges to assist in this process," he said. There is no minimum requirement in terms of the level of experience, so essentially a newly admitted solicitor and an unqualified JP could essentially be sitting making determinations about matters which could in fact, be over a range of issues and they would be in our view, issues which could significantly impact on individuals rights. You would have hoped that we would have systems in place where experienced and appropriately trained people would be sitting as decision makers. The parliamentary committee recommended that a "program of regular, continual professional development opportunities be provided to QCAT JPs." Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said "participants will have access to legal and professional support during the pilot." "Every relevant matter will be heard before one legally qualified and one non-legally qualified Justice of the Peace," he said. It is envisaged the pilot program will assist with the fair, quick, economical and informal dispute resolution services of QCAT. This trial is a significant opportunity to revitalise front line justice services to ensure that Queenslanders have access to swift and fair justice. The law is expected to be passed during the next sitting of parliament, in time for the trial to begin on June 3.