VPRS 5531 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Commonwealth Register

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.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(iii)款赋予澳大利亚联邦新一届议会权力，授权各州法院审理依据联邦立法提起的诉讼案件。简易法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）自1971年起更名为治安法院（Magistrates' Court），此类法院自联邦成立以来便拥有联邦司法管辖权。此类法院曾受理依据联邦法案提起的各类案件，涵盖税收、选举事务、无线电与电视牌照管理以及调解与仲裁等领域。历届《治安法官法案》以及近年出台的《治安法院法案》均要求各法院的书记官或登记官制作并留存法院的定罪裁决、命令及其他诉讼程序记录，此类登记簿为法院的权威官方记录。1915年，所有法院书记官均被要求为两类案件单独设立登记簿：一类是依据联邦立法审理的案件，另一类是被告人居住于其他州的案件。符合上述任一类别案件均被录入联邦登记簿。联邦登记簿与其他法院登记簿高度相似，通常采用统一格式，记录内容包括案件编号、公诉人或告发人姓名、被告人姓名、案件启动方式（逮捕、搜查令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用及规费、指控、案由或诉讼程序的说明（通常标注指控所依据的法案）、裁判结果或命令，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。为确保登记簿中登记内容的真实性，法院主审法官需于每日庭审结束后签署登记簿。