VPRS 12696 Orders, Decrees and Reports

From 1841 to 1852 all Victorian Supreme Court cases were handled by the New South Wales Supreme Court, Port Phillip District under the Imperial Act 5 Vict No 9. It provided that the resident judge of the Port Phillip District should have exclusive jurisdiction to deal with civil and criminal cases. The Supreme Court had the same jurisdiction as that of the Lord High Chancellor in Equity. With the creation of the Supreme Court of Victoria (Act 15 Vict No 10) in 1852 the Master in Equity became a recognised officer in the Court in Victoria. In 1883, by the Supreme Court (Judicature) Act, the English legislation providing for the concurrent jurisdiction of law and equity came to apply in Victoria where previously the court was notionally divided into a court of law and a court of equity. The 1883 Act was later repealed, and was re-enacted with considerable procedural amendments by the Supreme Court Act 1890.This series consists of Orders, Decrees and Reports made in Equity cases after the passing of the Judicature Act 1883. Where previously these had been filed as separate series, they were now, due to the concurrent jurisdiction of law and equity and subsequent lower volume of documentation, filed as a single series.Orders may be concerned with the award of costs at the conclusion of a case; they involved applications under the Lunacy Act for persons to be declared lunatic by inquisition, matters related to the Insolvency Act, the Companies Act and the Trustees Act. They involved Orders for the delivery of relevant documents to the Master in Equity for a preparation of a report for the Court by the Master and other Orders made by the Court. Decrees made by the Court in the course of a case before it consisted of directions regarding the payment of costs, directions regarding the payment of damages and directions regarding the transfer of property from one party to another in a case. Decrees were enforceable by the Court and put into effect the judgment of the Court in a matter. Court Orders could demand that the Master prepare a report on certain matters relevant to the case before the Court to assist in determining the matter. In other matters, the Court could order the Master to take certain actions in relation to the matter before the Court and report to the Court.This series was formerly registered as Units 25 to 32 of VPRS 792 Orders and Decrees. It was reserialised in 2001 as part of the ARAD Project.