VPRS 8846 Court of Petty Sessions Police/Arrest Register

This series comprises arrest registers created at the Chiltern Court of Petty Sessions. Prior to 1897 and after 1910 "arrest on view" matters (those that are recorded in this series) were recorded in VPRS 8545 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates Court Registers.BackgroundSuccessive Justices' Acts and, more recently, Magistrates' Court Acts have required the clerk or registrar of the court to make and keep a register of all convictions, orders and other proceedings of the court. This register is the authoritative record of the court.Until about 1888 this record was usually called a Cause List Book and had a slightly different format; since then the term Register has been used.In many courts, particularly larger ones, clerks have maintained several sequences of registers according to different types of matters dealt with by the court. Police/Arrest Registers record details of criminal cases where the defendant was arrested by the police and brought by them to court. (The other main mechanism for commencing criminal cases and bringing defendants to court was by summons.)ContentPolice/Arrest Registers are generally in the same format as all other Petty Sessions Registers, 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 the court (in all cases this would state "arrest") the fees or court costs accrued, a description of the charge, cause or proceeding, 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 the register at the end of each day.Related RecordsOther types of registers from this court are listed in the Inventory of Series.Several types of warrants, summonses, informations (ie statements by witnesses and parties to the case informing the court about the case) and other documents were also lodged with or created by the court in the process of administering each case. The documents were known as "process" and were placed together to create a case file. In most instances these files were destroyed about fifteen years after the completion of the case to which they related.1970's and 1980's: Use of Process to form RegisterIn the 1970's and 1980's many courts ceased to use bound volumes to maintain a court register and began the practice of recording the court's decision on the summons or warrant issued by the court to initiate proceedings. This document was annotated by the presiding Magistrate with his or her decision and then filed in case number order with other initiating documents to form a register. Some courts subsequently placed these documents in masonite folders or lever arch files, whilst at other courts the court register for this period is simply bundles of papers.1990's: Electronic Registration of Court CasesIn 1988 the Courts Management Division of the Attorney-General's Department commenced introducing a computerised case management system known as "Courtlink". Courtlink was introduced into all courts between 1988 and 1993 and replaced the former manual registers. Courtlink uses one system of case numbering for all Victorian Magistrates' Court Cases. It records the same types of information as previously recorded in the manual registers, and additionally includes several pieces of information used to manage caseflow and enforcement.