Part 6: Miscellaneous Section 79: References to Justices of the Peace in relation to Northern Ireland
Overview: This section will ensure that references to "justice of the peace" in the context of obtaining entry and search warrants in immigration legislation, as regards Northern Ireland, are treated as references to "lay magistrates".
	Background: On 1 April 2005 the functions at that date of justices of the peace in Northern Ireland were largely transferred to lay magistrates by section 10 of the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002. The effect of paragraph 6(a) of Schedule 4 to that Act is that references to justices of the peace are to be read as, or as including, references to a lay magistrate. However, that only applies in relation to the pre-1 April 2005 functions transferred by section 10 of the 2002 Act. There are some functions of justices of the peace which were conferred after 1 April 2005, so that provision does not apply. The section makes it clear that references to justices of the peace in relation to those later conferred functions are to be treated as references to lay magistrates. Four of the provisions in question are the power to enter and search premises for the purpose of detaining a vehicle relating to a person who is not lawfully resident in the UK under section 24E of the Immigration Act 1971, the power to enter and search premises for relevant identity documents under paragraph 25A of Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act, the power to search premises for things relevant to the functions of the Immigration Services Commissioner under paragraph 10A of Schedule 5 to the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 and the power to enter and search for nationality documents of a person arrested for a criminal offence under section 45 of the UK Borders Act 2007.
	No new powers to apply for a warrant are created.