Reading The Riot Act : A 200 Year History of Justices of the Peace in New Zealand by Philip Harkness.

Published by Media Features Limited Auckland, 2015 FIRST EDITION.

Hardback with jacket, near new excellent condition. 160 pages, illustrated.

"The book chronicles the days of the first J.P., Thomas Kendall, and other early Justices (this chapter's subtitled 'Rough Justice') through to the present day. The story ends with challenges supporting the case for non-partisan appointments of Justices of the Peace and greater deployment of Justices of the Peace to relieve the workload in District Courts. Dr Philip Harkness is very well-positioned to write the book: his thesis was about New Zealand's lay magistracy, he's been a Justice of the Peace for more than 50 years during which time he has undertaken both Judicial duties on the Bench and Ministerial duties. He's a former President of Waikato Justices of the Peace Association and is a Life Member of the Auckland Association. He says in the Preface that this account is "not intended as an academic treatise but rather as a wide-ranging account of the adoption and development in New Zealand of British common justice." Philip Harkness has achieved his objective with an easily read text, accompanied by illustrations, telling the story, warts-and-all, from the earliest days of colonisation."

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