President warns JPs not to charge for services

The island’s 32 newest Justices of the Peace (JPs) have been warned that it is illegal to charge for their services.

The caution came from President Dame Sandra Mason who reminded the JPs who were sworn in during two separate ceremonies, at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., that they are required to provide their services free of charge.

JPs sign and certify the validity of copies of official documents.

President Mason said that during the almost 50 years she spent in the judiciary, she had come across JPs who misunderstood their role.

“I am not sure that this was told to you or whether you have seen other people before you make that very mistake, asking people to pay a fee for your signature. It’s not what you are supposed to do,” she told the newly installed JPs.

“One of the things that some JPs don’t seem to understand is that it is a true national service and as a consequence, there is no fee attached to the times when you sign your name. It is not legal and I hope you understand that it is a service that you have undertaken to do for your fellow Barbadians to assist them in circumstances where documents have to be authenticated.

“You have agreed to offer this service free to your fellow Barbadians because all documents need to be authenticated and the persons who recommended you to be Justices of the Peace evidently knew that you were worthy of that request,” the President added.

Among those who took the Oath of Allegiance and Judicial Oath before her were Clerk of Parliament Pedro Eastmond, Police Communications and Public Affairs Officer Inspector Rodney Inniss, former Olympian Freida Nicholls, Chairman of the Barbados Water Authority Stevon Roberts, and Reverend Dr Adrian Smith.

Eastmond told Barbados TODAY he was honoured to become a Justice of the Peace, a title he wished was bestowed upon him many years ago.

“I used to be an immigration officer so I would fill forms out for persons who are applying for citizenship and then have to go and get a Justice of Peace to sign that form. So, it is really an inconvenience. I just want to repeat what Her Excellency says – that it is a service and even as an attorney and a former immigration officer I fill forms out for people and I didn’t charge,” he said.

“When I wasn’t the clerk and I was just an attorney, during that brief period I would fill forms out and I tried not to charge people for things. So I endorse what the President said about it being a service.”

Nicholls, whose mother was also a JP, said she was honoured to be able to serve her country once again at a national level.

“It gives me an opportunity to reconnect again with the community to serve and to just render assistance where it is required. There is so much need for persons to assist in this particular area,” she said. (AH)