Justices of the Peace Act 1949

29Appointments outside London

(1)It shall be lawful for His Majesty to appoint a barrister of not less than seven years' standing or a solicitor of the Supreme Court of the like standing to be a stipendiary magistrate for any of the following areas—

(a)any borough having a separate commission of the peace ;

(b)the whole or part of any county exclusive of any such borough as aforesaid;

(c)a district (in this section referred to as a " joint district ") comprising two or more areas for which separate appointments might be made under the foregoing paragraphs.

(2)A stipendiary magistrate appointed under this section shall hold office during His Majesty's pleasure and shall by virtue of his office be a justice of the peace for any county, and for any borough having a separate commission of the peace, which includes his area or any part of it.

(3)Any appointment of a stipendiary magistrate under this section shall be of a person recommended to His Majesty by the Lord Chancellor, and a stipendiary magistrate appointed under this section shall not be removed from office except on the Lord Chancellor's recommendation.

(4)No appointment (whether original or on a vacancy) of a stipendiary magistrate under this section—

(a)shall be made for a borough having a separate commission of the peace except on a petition presented to the Secretary of State by the borough council; or

(b)shall be made for the whole or part of a county exclusive of any such borough except on a petition so presented by the county council; or

(c)shall be made for a joint district except on a joint petition so presented by the borough and county councils who might present separate petitions under the foregoing paragraphs for the several parts of the joint district.

(5)The salary of a stipendiary magistrate appointed under this section shall be paid by the council or councils on whose petition he was appointed; and, where he was appointed on a joint petition, each of the councils shall be liable to him for the whole salary but it shall be borne by them in the shares from time to time agreed, and the joint petition shall specify the shares agreed at the time of its presentation.

(6)Before presenting a petition under this section a council shall consult the magistrates' courts committee acting for their area, and the Secretary of State before submitting the petition to His Majesty shall take into account any representations made to him by the committee.

(7)Where a stipendiary magistrate is appointed under this section on a petition presented by a county council (whether alone or jointly with other councils), the Secretary of State shall (where necessary) by statutory instrument make an order constituting the area for which he is appointed, or that part in which the county justices have jurisdiction, a petty sessional division or divisions of the county and making consequential provisions as to the remainder of the county, and subsections (4), (6) and (7) of section eighteen of this Act shall apply as if the order were an order under that section.

(8)A stipendiary magistrate appointed under this section for an area consisting of or including the whole or part of a county shall not act as a member of any court of quarter sessions for the county, nor act for any petty sessional division of the county other than the division or divisions in his area.

(9)The grant of a commission of the peace to a borough forming part of an area for which a stipendiary magistrate has been appointed under this section shall not affect the appointment of the magistrate or the liability for his salary of the council of the county which includes that borough.

(10)More than one magistrate may be appointed under this section for the same area.

(11)The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to the City of London or the county of London.

(12)Section one hundred and sixty-one of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, shall cease to have effect and this section shall apply to any magistrate appointed on a petition under that section who is in office at the coming into force of this section as if the petition had been a petition under this section.