# The Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) (Amendment) Rules 1999

S.I. 1999/2814 · made 7 October 1999

These Rules amend the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) Rules 1979 so as to provide that:an assistant who held a training certificate on 1st January 1999 may continue to act as a clerk in court for the duration of the course to which the certificate relates;an assistant whose employment is registered with the Law Society as a training contract may act as a clerk in court;a person employed as a clerk in court before 1st January 1999 who is not qualified under rule 4(1)(a) (that is to say, as a solicitor or a barrister, or by having passed all the examinations for one of those professions) may accept further contracts of employment as a clerk in court after that date, provided that the interval between two successive contracts does not exceed three months.

Made under: Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (Section 144); Justices of the Peace Act 1997 (repealed) (Section 44)

PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/justices-clerks-qualifications-of-assistants-amendment-rules-1999/pdf/uksi_19992814_en.pdf

## Introductory text

MAGISTRATES' COURTS
Made 7th October 1999
Laid before Parliament 12th October 1999
Coming into force 8th November 1999
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by subsection (1) of section 144 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 as extended by section 44(3) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997, after consultation with the Rule Committee appointed under the said section 144, makes the following Rules:

## 1 Citation and commencement

These Rules may be cited as the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) (Amendment) Rules 1999 and shall come into force on 8th November 1999.

## 2 Interpretation

In these Rules, a reference to a rule by number alone means the rule so numbered in the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) Rules 1979.

## 3 Amendments to the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) Rules 1979

After rule 2 there shall be inserted the following new rule:
“2A (1) For the purposes of these Rules and of the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) (Amendment) Rules 1998—
(a) two or more periods of employment as a clerk in court, whether or not with the same magistrates' courts committee, shall be treated as continuous provided that no more than three calendar months have elapsed between any two successive periods of employment;
(b) accordingly, if the first of those periods began before 1st January 1999, rule 4 as it stood immediately before that date shall apply in relation to all those periods.
(2) Paragraph (1) of this rule has effect subject to rule 5, and accordingly shall not operate so as to permit a person to be employed as a clerk in court after 31st December 2008 who could not otherwise have been so employed.”.

## 4 Amendments to the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) Rules 1979

The following new Rule shall be inserted after rule 4:—
“4A (1) An assistant who is not qualified for the purposes of rule 3 above may be employed as a clerk in court if:—
(a) he holds a valid training certificate granted by a magistrates' courts committee before 1st January 1999; or
(b) his employment as an assistant is registered by the Law Society as a training contract under regulation 23 of the Training Regulations 1990.
(2) In this rule “training certificate” has the meaning assigned by rule 2(1) of these Rules as they stood immediately before 1st January 1999, and the validity and duration of a training certificate granted before that date shall be determined as if rule 5(2) of and Schedule 3 to these Rules had continued in force.”

## Signature

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor
Keith Vaz
Parliamentary Secretary
Lord Chancellor’s Department
7th October 1999

## Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules amend the Justices' Clerks (Qualifications of Assistants) Rules 1979 so as to provide that:
(a) an assistant who held a training certificate on 1st January 1999 may continue to act as a clerk in court for the duration of the course to which the certificate relates;
(b) an assistant whose employment is registered with the Law Society as a training contract may act as a clerk in court;
(c) a person employed as a clerk in court before 1st January 1999 who is not qualified under rule 4(1)(a) (that is to say, as a solicitor or a barrister, or by having passed all the examinations for one of those professions) may accept further contracts of employment as a clerk in court after that date, provided that the interval between two successive contracts does not exceed three months.
This last provision does not enable a person to act as a clerk in court after 31st December 2008 who could not otherwise have done so.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/2814 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/justices-clerks-qualifications-of-assistants-amendment-rules-1999
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.