Criminal Law & Justice Weekly

The Criminal Law & Justice Weekly (CL&J), formerly known as Justice of the Peace (JPN) was at the time of its closing in 2018 the oldest legal weekly magazine in England and Wales. It had continuously reported all aspects of the law for the magisterial and criminal courts, from its first issue in 1837 until the final issue on 20 April 2018.

First published by Shaw and Co, with the aim of providing the legal community with a "universal medium of communication" the magazine set out to provide certainty of the speediest information upon all subjects falling under the respective cognizance of its readership. The magazine moved to Butterworths in the early 20th century and during the Second World War, it was produced at West Dean House (Butterworths & Co were evacuated to West Sussex during the war).

In 1972, the Justice of the Peace was sold to Barry Rose, who also edited the magazine until he sold the Justice of the Peace back to Butterworths in 1997. At that time, and until its end, the editor was Diana Rose, Barry Rose's daughter. The back volumes of the Justice of the Peace formed a history of the criminal law and wider society of England and Wales. Butterworths was absorbed into LexisNexis, which was part of Reed Elsevier.

CL&J's remit was to report on all matters concerning the criminal courts and the latest news for its readers. It was aimed at legal practitioners: judges, justice’s clerks and executives, barristers, solicitors, police, probation, local authorities and all who worked within the magistrate’s and criminal court systems. It also included cases from Justice of the Peace Reports.

Features and contents

 * Independent comment on important decisions made by the courts or government.
 * Notes of the Week – reporting important and relevant cases of interest.
 * Features, articles and interviews.
 * Current news and projects being used within the criminal justice system, covering family law, coroners, trading standards, local authority, probation, prison and police areas, road traffic and custom and excise, IT developments and relevant cases.
 * Notes of Cases – taken from Justice of the Peace Reports.
 * Reports on sentencing and current practise.
 * Weekly Law Digest – round up of the new Acts, statutory instruments and parliamentary publications.

History
The Justice of the Peace (JP) magazine continuously reported for 172 years all aspects of the law for the magisterial and criminal courts, since first published in 1837. When it ended, it was the oldest legal weekly journal in England and Wales, and read by those making decisions in their specialist areas within the Criminal Justice System.

First published by Shaw and Co, with the aim of providing the legal community with a "universal medium of communication" the magazine set out to provide certainty of the speediest information upon all subjects falling under the respective cognizance of its readership ((1837) 1 JPN 1).The magazine moved to Butterworths in the early 20th century and during the Second World War, it was produced at West Dean House (Butterworths & Co were evacuated to West Sussex during the war). In 1972, the Justice of the Peace was sold to Barry Rose, who also edited the magazine until he sold the Justice of the Peace back to Butterworths in 1997. The back volumes of the Justice of the Peace contain a history of the life and times of England and Wales.

Editor
Past editors: William Eagle, John Mee Mathew, J. L. Jellicoe, T. W. Saunders, Charles Clark, D. D. Keane, James A Foot J. B. Dasent, and W C Glen. Adrian Turner, Barrister, also co-editor of Stone's Justices' Manual, Diana Rose.

Justice of the Peace Reports
The Justice of the Peace Reports were a series of law reports. For the purpose of citation, the title of the Justice of the Peace Reports may be abbreviated to JP. Up to and including volume 95, the reports were generally bound at the end of the newspaper. From and including volume 96, the reports were published separately from the newspaper in a smaller volume. The newspaper had separate pagination after volume 67.