It was during the reign of Edward III from 1327 to 1377 that the position of Justice of the Peace was officially created.

From Edward III’s reign, exclusively the Sovereign made appointments. This enabled regular succession of officers whose primary task was to prevent offences from being committed rather than to punish and try offenders.

Gradually Justices of the Peace were invested with wider judicial authority to regulate trade and the police. By the reign of Henry IV, it had become the rule to charge Justices of the Peace with these duties. The “good men and lawful” appointed to the position were given far ranging powers, making them the “jacks of all trades” in the day to day administration of the community.


Early in the reign of Henry VII it was enacted that justices, at their discretion, could hear and determine all offences short of felony. In 1653, justices were empowered to take the mutual declarations of the contracting parties to a marriage. They were also authorize to receive information about any indictable offence and were invested with important administrative functions such as licensing alehouses and controlling police. They acted, of course, in an honorary capacity.


As the place where civil justice starts, it is the mission of the Justice of the Peace to serve the people of by efficient and accessible to all, and to treat all persons with integrity, fairness, and respect.

In Massachusetts, as well as other English colonies as early as the 1600’s, Justices of the Peace were commission to handle minor civil cases. Along with a host of other duties, Centuries on behalf of the English Crown was a primary duty of the Justices of the Peace. Thus, the office of the justice of the peace as it then existed was inherited from England.

The powers vested in the Office at this time were so wide-ranging they could only be listed under their alphabetical order in the Charter of Justice. One historian, describing their work, said, “they regulated wages, prices, profits, employment, marriages, wearing apparel, apprenticeship and house-building... they were put in charge of the regulations dealing with weights and measures, the maintenance of bridges, the upkeep of roads, the administration of the Poor Law, the building and control of local prisons”.