NEW JP'S TO HELP MUSLIM COMMUNITY
Published Thursday, 01 November, 2007 at 10:51 AM
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier in Western Queensland
The Honourable Kerry Shine
Brisbane’s Muslim community now has greater access to the legal system after the swearing in of six new Justices of the Peace at the Richlands Court House, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Kerry Shine said today.
“Justices of the Peace provide a vital service in Queensland by performing a range of judicial and administrative functions which support the rest of the legal service,” Mr Shine said.
“There are around 85,000 JP’s registered in Queensland and I strongly encourage Queenslanders to make good use of the voluntary services they provide.
“These six new JP’s have qualified through a program run by the Department of Justice and they will now fill a unique need in Queensland’s Muslim community by providing their legal expertise.
“Being able to sit down with a JP from a similar faith and cultural background will go a long way to demystifying the legal system involved in having JP’s witness documents for many Muslim Queenslanders.”
Mr Shine said the courses for Muslim JP’s are proving very successful with JP’s already qualified from courses at Buranda and Helensvale while a fourth training course was completed at the Gold Coast mosque at Arundel last Friday.
“I have high hopes that these newly sworn in JP’s will join other volunteer JP’s who participate in signing centres in shopping complexes, libraries, court registries, universities and hospitals and handle between 1500 and 2000 matters each day across Queensland.”
“I congratulate these dedicated men and women who have made an important commitment to serving their local community and who will help many Muslim Queenslanders become more confident in using our legal system.”
Media Contact: Troy Davies 3239 6400, 0488 799 273
“Justices of the Peace provide a vital service in Queensland by performing a range of judicial and administrative functions which support the rest of the legal service,” Mr Shine said.
“There are around 85,000 JP’s registered in Queensland and I strongly encourage Queenslanders to make good use of the voluntary services they provide.
“These six new JP’s have qualified through a program run by the Department of Justice and they will now fill a unique need in Queensland’s Muslim community by providing their legal expertise.
“Being able to sit down with a JP from a similar faith and cultural background will go a long way to demystifying the legal system involved in having JP’s witness documents for many Muslim Queenslanders.”
Mr Shine said the courses for Muslim JP’s are proving very successful with JP’s already qualified from courses at Buranda and Helensvale while a fourth training course was completed at the Gold Coast mosque at Arundel last Friday.
“I have high hopes that these newly sworn in JP’s will join other volunteer JP’s who participate in signing centres in shopping complexes, libraries, court registries, universities and hospitals and handle between 1500 and 2000 matters each day across Queensland.”
“I congratulate these dedicated men and women who have made an important commitment to serving their local community and who will help many Muslim Queenslanders become more confident in using our legal system.”
Media Contact: Troy Davies 3239 6400, 0488 799 273