Clerk of the peace

A clerk of the peace held an office in England and Wales whose responsibility was the records of the quarter sessions and the framing of presentments and indictments. They had legal training, so that they could advise justices of the peace.

The office of the clerk of the peace originated in England and is lost in antiquity. It is referred to in Statute 24 C.1 of Edward III (1361) as an office occupied by a person who draws indictments, arraigns prisoners, joins issue for the Crown, enters judgments, awards their process and makes up and keeps records in respect of proceedings before justices assembled in quarter sessions to hear and determine felonies and trespasses.

Clerks of the peace were appointed for counties, ridings, divisions and other places decided by the custos rotolorum, i.e., the principal justice of the peace for the various divisions etc. They were required to be in constant attendance on the courts of quarter sessions and were accountable in the King's Bench for their indictments. They were specifically responsible to the court for the performance of their duties. This position at common law was later set down in Statute 37 C.1 of Henry VIII. The clerk of the peace is styled in the Year Books as Attornatus Domini Regis. This title, which designated him as the king's attorney for the area of his appointment, is interesting, since it predates that of a single attorney-general for the realm; that title first appearing in 1461.

From early times however, it seems that clerks of the peace had administrative functions apart from their legal and quasi-legal duties, especially in towns and cities. Hearth tax returns were lodged with the clerk of the peace between 1662 and 1688. The role was established by 1380 and may have existed before that. Other duties included ordering the repair of bridges, levying county rates, provision of goals, and the putting down of diseased animals. When the Local Government Act 1888 created county councils, clerks of the peace became their chief executive officers. Many more additional duties had been cast upon them, e.g., main roads. In 1894 they acquired the administration of the Motor Car Act, Small Holdings Act, Old Age Pensions Act and the Finance Act. In 1902 they acquired the administration of the Education Act, in 1904 the Licensing Act and in 1908 control of the procedure required by the Criminal Appeal Act. The clerk of the peace was truly the factorum generale.

After existing for more than 600 years, the office was abolished in England by section 44(1) of the Courts Act 1971 which came into effect on 1 January 1972. Meanwhile, justices of the peace were being advised in their petty sessions work by the justices' clerk (or clerk to the justices), an office which still exists in England and Wales today as the principal legal adviser in magistrates' courts.

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