VPRS 1677 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，现已更名为治安法院（Magistrates' Courts））受理覆盖范围极广的“轻微”司法事务。该类法庭的审判活动涵盖三类管辖范畴：刑事、民事与许可类事务。19世纪时，它们是民事与刑事事务中最低层级的司法救济途径。郡法院（County Court）与最高法院（Supreme Court）则负责审理并裁决更为严重的刑事案件及标的额更高的民事纠纷。
直至1886年专门的酒类许可法院设立前，许可管辖事务同时涵盖酒类与非酒类许可相关事宜。
历届《治安法官法》（Justices Acts）均要求小额诉讼法院书记员（clerks of Petty Sessions）留存所有法庭裁决与命令的完整记录，此类记录为法庭的权威官方档案。在约1888年之前，用于该记录用途的卷宗被称为案由簿（Cause List Books），其中“cause”一词即指代案件。
大多数小额诉讼法院会按事务发生的先后顺序处理刑事、民事及许可类案件。因此，案由簿通常会记载上述所有类型案件的详细信息。仅规模最大、业务最繁忙的法庭才会将民事、刑事与许可类案件分开单独记录。
案由簿普遍采用统一的格式规范。每页顶部均会记录法庭名称、开庭日期、法庭庭长及其他主审官员的姓名。针对每起已审理的案件，卷宗会记载控告方/原告、被告的姓名，应缴费用、案由（即刑事指控内容或民事诉求的性质）、裁决结果及相关备注。备注栏有时会用于记录罚金或相关费用的缴纳情况。为核验案由簿中登记内容的真实性，法庭主审官员需在每日庭审结束后签字确认。