Bill 97 explained in plain English
Ontario Justices of the Peace Modernization Act, 2012
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 40th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Ontario Justices of the Peace Modernization Act, 2012, creates two categories of justices of the peace (presiding and administrative) with defined powers and establishes a five-year legal practice requirement for presiding justices of the peace.
This bill, called the Ontario Justices of the Peace Modernization Act, 2012, would amend the Justices of the Peace Act to create two categories of justices of the peace: presiding and administrative. It would also set out the powers that each category can exercise. The bill also adds a qualification for presiding justices of the peace, requiring them to have at least five years of experience practicing law.
- Creates two categories of justices of the peace: presiding and administrative.
- Defines the powers that presiding justices of the peace can exercise.
- Defines the powers that administrative justices of the peace can exercise, with specific limitations.
- Requires that candidates for appointment as a presiding justice of the peace have at least five years of experience practicing law.
- Amends the Justices of the Peace Act to reflect these changes.
- Establishes a transition process for existing justices of the peace to be designated as either presiding or administrative.
- Allows for different salaries, remuneration, and benefits to be set for presiding and administrative justices of the peace through regulation.
- Justices of the peace in Ontario.
- Individuals applying to become justices of the peace.
- The Attorney General.
- The public who interacts with the justice system.
- The Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
- Presiding justices of the peace may exercise any power authorized for a justice of the peace under an Act or regulation.
- Administrative justices of the peace may only exercise powers specified in an Act or regulation or those listed in subsection 4(5) of the bill, and are specifically prohibited from hearing Charter applications, ordering imprisonment, or ordering the seizure of property.
- Individuals seeking appointment as a presiding justice of the peace must have practiced law for at least five years and be in good standing with a law society.
- The bill comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.
- Regulations made under Section 21 of the Justices of the Peace Act may provide for different salaries, remuneration, and benefits for presiding and administrative justices of the peace.
- The specific powers that may be exercised by administrative justices of the peace, beyond those explicitly listed in the bill, will be determined by future regulations under clause 4(5)(m).
- The bill does not specify the exact date it comes into force, as it is subject to proclamation by the Lieutenant Governor.
- The bill does not detail the specific process for designating existing justices of the peace into the new categories, beyond stating they will be designated based on their previous roles (presiding or non-presiding).
Changes the Act to create two categories of justices of the peace (presiding and administrative), outlines their respective powers, and sets a minimum legal experience requirement for presiding justices of the peace.
Source: Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of the Bill amend the Justices of the Peace Act.
Repeals the existing section and replaces it with provisions that allow the Lieutenant Governor in Council to designate justices of the peace as either presiding or administrative, and outlines the powers of each category.
Source: Section 3 of the Bill
Changes the wording to refer to 'presiding justice of the peace' instead of 'justice of the peace'.
Source: Section 4 of the Bill
Allows for regulations to prescribe powers for administrative justices of the peace and permits regulations to establish different salaries, remuneration, and benefits for presiding and administrative justices of the peace.
Source: Section 5 of the Bill
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced