Vivian, John C.

English

University of Denver

Denver Law Review Volume 6 Issue 5 Article 7 July 2021 Should Justices of the Peace Be Members of the Bar? John C. Vivian Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/dlr Recommended Citation John C. Vivian, Should Justices of the Peace Be Members of the Bar?, 6 Dicta 31 (1928-1929). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Denver Law Review at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Denver Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact jennifer.cox@du.edu,dig-commons@du.edu. SHOULD JUSTICES OF THE PEACEBE MEMBERS OF THE BAR?By John C. Vivian of the Denver BarHERE is the attorney who, at some time in his prac-tice, has not deplored the fact that there is no provisionin our law requiring Justices of the Peace to be mem-bers of the bar?Where is the lawyer who has not seen justice fly out ofthe window unrestrained after he has pleaded his case in astrictly professional and adequate fashion only to find that hiswords have fallen on deaf ears, so far as their legal effect wasconcerned before the layman presiding?The Constitution of Colorado, Article 14, Section 11, pro-vides as follows:"There shall be elected at the same time at which members of the gen-eral assembly are selected, beginning with the year nineteen hundred andfour, two justices of the peace and two constables in each precinct in eachcounty, who shall hold their office for a term of two years; Provided, Thatin precincts containing fifty thousand (50,000) or more inhabitants, thenumber of justices and constables may be increased as provided by law. Theterm of offices of all justices of the peace, that expires in January, 1904, ishereby extended to the second Tuesday in January, 1905. This section shallgovern, except as hereafter otherwise expressly directed, or permitted byconstitutional enactment."An examination of this section reveals that nothing there-in sets forth any qualifications whatsoever for the office ofJustice of the Peace. County assemblies of political partiespay little or no attention to the nomination of men for thisoffice and it happens not infrequently that the office goes beg-ging. This is especially true in the rural districts.There is little dignity in the office. The emolument forthe most part, is negligible. In the sparsely settled commu-nities of the state, the justice is usually a man of mature yearswho operates the office in conjunction with a real estate, in-surance, or other business. He does not ordinarily haveenough cases to familarize himself with procedure or practice.Naturally, in electing the class of men who occupy, forthe most part, the office of Justice of the Peace in Colorado,DICTAwe can expect but small and restricted efficiency in the func-tioning of this class of courts. This is especially true from thestandpoint of the practicing attorney who is wont to preparehis cases for presentation and trial in the justice court thesame as he would in a court of record.In such instances, the Court and the attorney do not meeton equal terms. Their vocations are different, their trainingis not alike and their viewpoint upon the various aspects whicha trial may assume are not the same. When a member of thebar approaches the judge of any District Court in the state,he knows that the technical legal things he is bound to saywill receive a sympathetic understanding and considerationfrom the Court. This is mostly true in the County tribunalsin Colorado. But in the average Justice of the Peace Court,cities and large towns excepted, there is usually an utter lackof comprehension of the legal requirements which must neces-sarily form the basic groundwork upon which the settlementof any controversy is to be predicated.The justices under our present practice very seldom keepany books or make the required reports to the County Com-missioners; they are inexperienced in taxing fees and costs andthey very commonly misunderstand or misinterpret their jur-isdiction. In many instances they attempt to fill out forms,blanks, findings, and decrees without proper knowledge andadvice, resulting in confusion and disorder which some com-petent attorney must later disentangle. Many times they over-reach their authority. Entries in official account books areoften erroneous and preliminary matters often invalidate sub-sequent procedure in a higher court.Presenting a legal argument to the average justice is awaste of time because, without the requisite legal training, de-cisions and precedents mean nothing to him. Nor is the jus-tice personaly to blame. It is the system. The ordinary Jus-tice of the Peace does the best he can. Few are the instancesof wilful misconduct of justices in office. They are usuallygood men, but lacking in the training and temperament for thejudicial job.Even though the government found it expedient to makecooks out of newspaper writers in the military service duringDICTA 33the world war, it does not follow that a similar course shouldbe adopted in achieving that degree of efficiency in the ad-ministration of justice, in our courts not of record, which thebar has an inherent right to expect.This brings us to the question of the feasibility of amend-ing the Constitution to provide that justices of the peace shallbe "learned in the law" to conform to the requirements of thehigher branches of our judiciary.It would involve a sweeping change in our present sys-tem and would be fraught with many obstacles. In order thatthe ends of justice may be best served, it is essential; but con-sidered from a political or practical standpoint, there mightdevelop many objections to a change so radical.The office would, perhaps, need to be elevated to a higherclass if the legal requirement should be adopted, for no lawyerof any standing would consent to take the ordinary justice jobat the emolument which the present fee system provides.

Should Justices of the Peace Be Members of the Bar?

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Should Justices of the Peace Be Members of the Bar?

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