VPRS 12502 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court Police/Arrest Register

Successive 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.In the twentieth century many courts, particularly larger ones, maintained several sequences of registers according to different types of matters dealt with by the court. Typically, separate registers were maintained according to the means by which the defendant was brought to court. Police or 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 bringing defendants to court was by summons.Police/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.

《历届治安法官法》及近期颁布的《治安法院法》均规定，法院书记员或登记员须制作并留存涵盖所有定罪裁决、法院命令及其他诉讼程序的登记册。该登记册为法院的权威官方记录。

20世纪，诸多法院（尤其是规模较大的法院）会根据审理案件的不同类型，留存多套序列登记册。通常情况下，法院会按照被告被传唤至法院的不同方式，分别设立专属登记册。

警方逮捕登记册（Police or Arrest Registers）用于记录由警方逮捕并押送至法院的刑事案件详情。另一种主要的被告传唤方式为传票传唤。

警方逮捕登记册的格式与所有其他小额诉讼法庭登记册（Petty Sessions Registers）基本一致，需载明以下信息：案件编号、检察官或告发人姓名、被告人姓名、案件提请法院审理的方式（所有此类条目均标注"arrest"）、产生的诉讼费用、指控事由或诉讼程序说明、裁决或命令内容，以及备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金及诉讼费用的缴纳情况。为确保登记册条目真实有效，法院主审法官须于每日工作结束后在登记册上签字。