Subject to the provisions of this section, any person who, under this Act, is a justice of the peace for any area by virtue of any other office held by him shall, before acting as such a justice, take the oath of allegiance and judicial oath in accordance with the Promissory Oaths Acts.

A person shall not be required by virtue of subsection (1) above to take those oaths as a justice of the peace by reason only of his being appointed under this Act to act temporarily as deputy for, or as if he were, the holder of another office to which that subsection applies; but those oaths may be taken by and administered to any such person despite anything in the Promissory Oaths Acts or any other enactment.

A person shall not be required, on becoming a justice of the peace for any area, to take the oath of allegiance and judicial oath in accordance with the Promissory Oaths Acts if he has at any time done so as justice of the peace for that or any other area.

The oaths required by law to be taken by a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate may, in the case of a person authorised to act as such under section 19 above, be taken before any of the metropolitan stipendiary magistrates.

In this section “the Promissory Oaths Acts” means the M1Promissory Oaths Act 1868 and the M2Promissory Oaths Act 1871.