VPRS 6157 Court of Petty Sessions Register

Courts of Petty Sessions, known since 1971 as Magistrates' Courts, have dealt with a very large range of "minor" court matters. The types of cases heard, which have changed and increased over time, fall within four broad jurisdictions: criminal, civil, licensing and family law. Apart from a large number of tribunals, Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates Courts provide the lowest level of redress in civil and criminal matters. The County Court, the Supreme Court and various Commonwealth courts have heard and determined more serious criminal cases and larger civil disputes. The licensing jurisdiction since 1886 has comprised non-liquor licensing matters only.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 all convictions, orders and other proceedings of the Court. This register is the authoritative record of the Court. Until about 1888 this record was known as a Cause List Book.Initially, most clerks maintained a single register for all or most of the Court's business. This series comprises a Court Register which includes a mixture of cases from the various jurisdictions. Subsequently Clerks of Court were instructed to create separate registers for certain types of cases. Some Courts also began to maintain additional registers for different types of cases. Typically, separate registers have been established for the following cases:Register Used ForAdoption of Children Adoption of children (1928 to 1958)Civil/Summons Cases brought to court by summonsCommonwealth Commonwealth jurisdiction (from 1915)Family Law Commonwealth family law jurisdiction (from 1975)Licence Liquor (pre 1886) and non-liquor licence applicationsMaintenance Maintenance cases (1928 to 1975)Police/Arrest Cases brought to court by police arrestQuasi Criminal cases brought by summonsSpecial Complaints Civil cases where Court determines redress (1928 to 1979)Where courts have subdivided the registration of cases, each Register has been allocated a different Victorian Public Record Series (VPRS) number and the type of register has been included in the series title.Court Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the prosecutor or informant (in a criminal matter), complainant (in a civil matter), or applicant (in a licensing matter), the name of the accused or defendant, how the case came to the court (arrest, warrant, summons etc), 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.

小额诉讼法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）自1971年起更名为治安法院（Magistrates' Courts），其受理范围覆盖极广泛的轻微司法事务。该法院审理的案件类型随时间推移不断拓展与演变，可划分为四大核心司法管辖范畴：刑事、民事、许可类及家事法案件。除大量裁判所外，小额诉讼法院/治安法院是民事与刑事案件中最低层级的司法救济渠道。郡法院（County Court）、最高法院（Supreme Court）及各类英联邦法院（Commonwealth courts）则负责审理重大刑事案件及标的额更高的民事纠纷。自1886年起，许可类司法管辖权仅涵盖非酒类许可相关事务。

历届《治安法官法》及近期的《治安法院法》均要求各法院的书记员或司法书记官编制并留存所有定罪裁决、司法命令及诉讼程序的官方登记簿，此类登记簿是法院的权威官方记录。1888年前后，此类记录曾被称为“案件目录簿（Cause List Book）”。

早期多数书记员会为法院全部或绝大多数业务维护一份统一登记簿。本系列档案即包含这类涵盖多类司法管辖事项的法院登记簿。后续法院书记员被要求为特定类型案件单独设立专属登记簿，部分法院还自行增设了针对不同案件类型的附属登记簿。通常而言，下列案件类型均设立了专属登记簿：
- 收养案件：儿童收养（1928年至1958年）
- 民事传票案件：以传票形式提交至法院的诉讼
- 英联邦管辖案件：自1915年起的英联邦司法管辖事项
- 家事法案件：自1975年起的英联邦家事法管辖事项
- 许可类案件：酒类许可（1886年之前）及非酒类许可申请
- 扶养纠纷案件：1928年至1975年的扶养案件
- 警方逮捕案件：经警方逮捕后提交至法院的案件
- 准刑事案件：以传票形式提起的准刑事诉讼
- 特殊申诉案件：由法院裁定司法救济的民事案件（1928年至1979年）

当法院对案件登记进行细分时，每一类登记簿均被分配专属的维多利亚州公共档案系列（Victorian Public Record Series, VPRS）编号，且登记簿类型已纳入该系列的标题中。

法院登记簿通常采用统一格式，记载案件编号、刑事案件中的公诉人或报案人、民事案件中的原告、许可事项中的申请人、刑事被告人或民事被告的姓名、案件启动程序（逮捕、逮捕令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用、指控事由或诉讼缘由、裁判结果或司法命令，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。为确保登记簿条目真实有效，法院主审法官需于每日庭审结束后在登记簿上签字认证。