VPRS 17002 Court of Petty Sessions Commonwealth Register; Children's Court Register (1907)

Section 77(iii) of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 vested the new Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia with the power to invest state courts with the jurisdiction to determine matters brought to court under Commonwealth legislation. Courts of Petty Sessions, known since 1971 as Magistrates Courts, have included a Commonwealth jurisdiction since Federation. Cases have been brought to these courts under Commonwealth Acts dealing with various matters including taxation, electoral matters, wireless and television licensing and conciliation and arbitration. The last few pages of volume 1 also include cases from sittings of the Bendigo Children's Court.Successive Justices' Acts and, more recently, Magistrates' Court Acts have required the clerk or registrar of each court to make and keep a register of convictions, orders and other proceedings of the court. This register is the authoritative record of the court. In 1915 all Clerks of Court were instructed to keep a separate register for matters heard under Commonwealth legislation and for cases where the defendant resided in another state. Cases falling into either of these categories were recorded in Commonwealth Registers.Commonwealth Registers are very similar to other Court Registers. Commonwealth Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the prosecutor or informant, the name of the accused or defendant, how the case came to court (arrest, warrant, summons etc), the fees or court costs accrued, a description of the charge, cause or proceeding (usually indicating the Act under which the charges have been laid), the decision or order and any remarks. The column for remarks was often used to record the payment of fines and fees. In order to authenticate entries made in the register the presiding officer(s) of the court signed it at the end of each day.

1900年《澳大利亚联邦宪法法案》(Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900)第77条第(三)项授予澳大利亚联邦新议会一项权力，即授权州法院审理依据联邦立法提起的诉讼案件。简易裁判所(Courts of Petty Sessions)自1971年起正式更名为治安法院(Magistrates Courts)，自澳大利亚联邦成立伊始便拥有联邦司法管辖权。依据联邦法案提起的各类案件曾被提交至此类法院，涉及税收、选举事务、无线电与电视牌照颁发以及调解仲裁等诸多领域。本数据集第一卷的最后数页还收录了本迪戈儿童法院(Bendigo Children's Court)庭审的相关案件。

历代《治安法官法》(Justices' Acts)以及近年来出台的《治安法院法》(Magistrates' Court Acts)均要求各法院的书记员或登记官制作并保管一份关于本院定罪裁定、司法命令及其他诉讼程序的登记册。该登记册为法院的权威诉讼记录。1915年，所有法院书记员均被要求为两类案件分别设立专属登记册：一类为依据联邦立法审理的案件，另一类为被告人居住于其他州的案件。凡归入上述两类的案件，均需录入联邦登记册(Commonwealth Registers)。

联邦登记册与普通法院登记册极为相似，通常采用统一格式，载明案件编号、检察官或告发人姓名、被告人姓名、案件启动方式（逮捕、逮捕令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用、指控事由及案由详情（通常标注指控所依据的法案）、判决或裁定内容以及备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金与诉讼费用的缴纳情况。为确保登记册内条目真实有效，法院主审法官需于每日庭审结束后在登记册末尾签名认证。