VPRS 1537 County Court Register

This series consists of the registers of the sittings of the County Court which was responsible for judgments in more substantial civil actions. Summary details included: the number of the plaint, the date of hearing, the name and town (or suburb) of the plaintiff and defendant, the nature of the action and amount of claim, dates of execution and of return of warrant, amount levied and remarks. From (circa) 1869 separate registers were maintained for different types of cases: Common Law, Equity and Probate and Administration.County Court Common Law Register: details include the names of the plaintiff and defendant, the nature of the action, a description of the land or chattel involved, the amount of the claim and the judgment made by the Court.County Court Equity Register: details include the number and date of the plaint, the names and addresses of plaintiffs and defendants, the nature of the relief sought, day, decretal and other orders, accounts and enquiries, decree and further directions, record for trial on issue of facts and results, execution and remarks.County Court Probate and Administration Register: details included are the case number, the date of application, the name, age and last abode of the deceased, a description and the value of the property, the name and address of the applicant or plaintiff, the nature of the application, defendant or caveator (if any), order or decree and to whom granted, the names of obligers and particulars of a bond, date of remittance of proceedings to the Supreme Court and remarks.Within the County Court there were two mechanisms for the redress of civil complaints: (i) ordinary and (ii) special complaints. These had the opposite meaning to ordinary and special complaints in the Magistrates' Court.Ordinary Complaints concerned complaints for unliquidated damages where the Court was required to determine the appropriate level of redress. Claims for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident were typically handled in the ordinary jurisdiction.Special Complaints were complaints where the precise amount of the claim could be determined by an objective scale. An example of this would be the recovery of debts for goods delivered.