Commentary on Sections: Part 2 Justices’ clerks and assistant clerks Section 28: Functions
80.Section 28 re-models section 45 of the JPA 1997 on the functions and powers of justices’ clerks and assistant clerks. Currently section 144 of the MCA 1980 allows the Lord Chancellor to make rules which, among other things, regulate and prescribe the procedure and practice to be followed by justices' clerks. The Lord Chancellor currently makes rules on the advice of, or after consultation with the Magistrates’ Courts Rules Committee, but he will also now consult the Criminal Procedure Rule Committee and the Family Procedure Rule Committee before making rules about justices’ clerks under this section.