VPRS 257 Orders Books

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 of 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 The 1883 Act was later repealed, and was re-enacted with considerable procedural amendments by the Supreme Court Act 1890.The Master in Equity was responsible for the administration of the Supreme Court in Equity as well as holding various other positions. In 1883 under the Judicature Act the position of Prothonotary of the Supreme Court (VA 433) was established to relieve the Master in Equity of the administration of matters not related to Equity. The Prothonotary later assumed responsibility for the Equity functions of the Master in Equity.This series contains the Orders made by the Supreme Court in Equity in relation to cases before it in both its ordinary and ecclesiastical jurisdiction and Orders transmitted to it from other jurisdictions in equity. Some Orders were made as part of the judgment of the case and others by rules nisi.From 1856 until 1861 the Orders were transcribed in to the volumes. The Order was engrossed on to the Roll in the Case File (see VPRS 259 Equity Case Files) and a copy of the Order was also placed in the Equity Case File. The folio number of the Order in VPRS 257 was written on the copy in the Equity Case File and the date of the Order was noted in the Equity Suit Book VPRS 1697.From 1861 the practice of transcribing the Order into the volumes ceased. Instead the original Orders were bound together into volumes rather than being placed in the Equity Case File. The Orders were folded originally and were later unfolded and bound, probably by the Masters Office to assist reference. The cases folio number in the Equity Suit Book (VPRS 1697) is inscribed on the Order and if the Order is engrossed on the Roll, that is also noted. The Equity Case File Number is usually not inscribed on the Order. The previous system of transcribing Orders in to the Books did not provide these cross references.All Equity Court Orders were noted in the Equity Suit Books, see VPRS 1697.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. Actual equity case files may be found in VPRS 259 Equity Case Files.A Note about Previous/ Subsequent SeriesAlthough this series covers the period 1856 1884 (including 1864), some Orders from 1864 were bound into a volume with Decrees and Reports also created in 1864, see VPRS 12799 Orders, Decrees and Reports. It is not known why this was done, possibly the Orders in VPRS 12799 were overlooked when the majority of the Orders were bound into the volumes of VPRS 257, and for expediency the Orders were bound with Decrees and Reports that also had been missed.

1841年至1852年间，所有原属维多利亚州最高法院管辖的案件均由依据《5 Vict第9号帝国法令》设立的新南威尔士州最高法院菲利普港区管辖。该法令规定，菲利普港区的驻地法官享有处理民事及刑事案件的专属管辖权。该法院与衡平法院大法官享有同等的衡平管辖权。1852年，依据《15 Vict第10号法令》设立维多利亚州最高法院（Supreme Court of Victoria）后，衡平主事官（Master in Equity）成为维多利亚州法院正式认可的公职人员。

1883年，通过《最高法院（司法）法令》，英国有关普通法与衡平法并行管辖权的立法正式适用于维多利亚州——此前该州法院在概念上被划分为普通法院与衡平法院。1883年法令后被废止，并于1890年通过《最高法院法令》在作出大量程序修正后重新颁布。衡平主事官负责管理最高法院的衡平事务，同时兼任多项其他职务。1883年，依据《司法法令》，最高法院首席书记官（Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, VA 433）一职设立，以免除衡平主事官处理非衡平相关事务的职责。此后，首席书记官逐步承接了衡平主事官的衡平相关职能。

本系列档案包含维多利亚州最高法院就其普通管辖与教会管辖范围内的案件所作出的命令，以及从其他衡平司法辖区移送至本院的命令。部分命令作为案件判决的组成部分作出，其余则以暂准命令（rules nisi）的形式作出。

1856年至1861年间，相关命令被抄录入卷宗。命令会被誊写至案卷夹中的案卷卷（参见VPRS 259衡平案卷夹），同时命令副本亦会存入衡平案卷夹。VPRS 257中命令的对开页页码会被标注在衡平案卷夹内的副本上，而命令作出的日期则会被记录于VPRS 1697衡平诉讼簿中。

1861年起，将命令抄录入卷宗的惯例被废止。取而代之的是，原始命令会被直接装订成册，而非存入衡平案卷夹。命令最初处于折叠状态，后由主事官办公室展开并装订，以方便查阅。VPRS 1697衡平诉讼簿中记载的案件对开页页码会被标注在命令上，若命令已誊写至案卷，则会一并标注。衡平案卷夹编号通常不会标注在命令上，此前将命令抄录入书籍的归档系统并未提供此类交叉引用。所有衡平法院命令均会被记录于VPRS 1697衡平诉讼簿中。

本系列命令涉及的内容包括：案件审结时的诉讼费用裁定；依据《精神错乱法令》提出的、通过审讯令宣告某人精神错乱的申请；与破产法、公司法及信托法相关的事务；向衡平主事官交付相关文件以由其为法院准备报告的相关命令，以及法院作出的其他各类命令。实际的衡平案卷可于VPRS 259衡平案卷夹中查阅。

### 关于前后系列档案的说明
尽管本系列档案涵盖1856年至1884年（含1864年）的内容，但部分1864年的命令与同期产生的判令及报告一同被装订入同一卷宗，即VPRS 12799命令、判令与报告卷宗。目前尚不明确如此操作的原因，推测是由于在将大部分命令装订入VPRS 257卷宗时，VPRS 12799中的命令被遗漏，因此为图权宜之计，将这批遗漏的命令与同样被遗漏的判令及报告一同装订。