VPRS 11668 Court of Petty Sessions Cause List Book

Courts of Petty Sessions (now known as Magistrates' Courts) dealt with a very large range of "minor" court matters. Cases were heard in three jurisdictions: criminal, civil, and licensing. In the nineteenth century they provided the lowest level of redress in civil and criminal matters. The County Court and the Supreme Court heard and determined more serious criminal cases and larger civil disputes. The licensing jurisdiction included both liquor and non-liquor licensing matters until 1886 when separate liquor Licensing Courts were established.Successive Justices Acts required clerks of Petty Sessions to keep a record of all decisions and orders made by Courts of Petty Sessions. This record is the authoritative record of the court. Until about 1888, volumes used for this purpose were called Cause List Books (a cause meaning a case). Most Courts of Petty Sessions dealt with criminal, civil and licensing matters as they arose. Accordingly, Cause List Books generally give details of all these types of cases. Only the largest and busiest courts recorded civil, criminal and licensing matters separately.Cause List Books are generally in a common format. At the top of each page are recorded details of the name of the court, the date of sitting and the name of the Chairman of the court and other presiding officer(s). For each case heard, details are given of the name of the complainant, defendant, any fees to be paid, the cause (ie the criminal charge or the nature of the civil claim), the decision and any remarks. The remarks column was sometimes used to record the payment of fines or fees. In order to authenticate entries made in the Cause List Book the presiding officer(s) of the court signed it at the end of each day.小额诉讼法院（Courts of Petty Sessions，现称治安法院（Magistrates' Courts））承办范围极广的“轻微”司法事务。其管辖范畴涵盖三类司法事项：刑事、民事与许可类事务。在19世纪，该类法院是民事与刑事领域最基层的救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）与最高法院（Supreme Court）则负责审理并裁判更为重大的刑事案件与标的额更高的民事纠纷。在1886年专门酒类许可法院设立前，其许可类管辖权涵盖酒类与非酒类许可两类事务。 历次出台的《治安法官法》（Justices Acts）均要求小额诉讼法院的书记员留存该法院作出的全部裁判与命令记录，此类记录为法院的权威档案。直至约1888年，用于该用途的卷宗被称为“案由登记簿（Cause List Books）”，其中“案由（cause）”即指代案件。绝大多数小额诉讼法院会在案件发生时同步处理刑事、民事与许可类事务，因此案由登记簿通常会详尽记录上述各类案件的细节信息。仅规模最大、办案量最繁重的法院才会将民事、刑事与许可类案件分别归档记录。 案由登记簿通常采用统一格式。每页顶部均会记录法院名称、开庭日期、法院庭长及其他主审法官的姓名。针对每起已审结案件，登记簿会记录原告、被告姓名，需缴纳的各项费用，案由（即刑事指控内容或民事诉求的性质）、裁判结果及备注信息。备注栏有时会用于记录罚金或费用的缴纳情况。为确保登记簿中登记内容的真实性，法院主审法官需在每日庭审结束后签字确认。