VPRS 4790 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）现称裁判法院（Magistrates' Courts），其受理范围涵盖大量"轻微"法庭事务。该类法院的审理范畴包含三类司法管辖事项：刑事、民事及牌照许可事项。在19世纪，它是民事与刑事案件中最低层级的救济途径。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大的民事纠纷。直至1886年单独设立酒类牌照法院前，其牌照许可管辖范畴同时涵盖酒类与非酒类牌照相关事务。历任《治安法官法》（Justices Acts）均要求小额诉讼法院书记员留存该法院所有裁决与命令的记录，该记录为法院的权威档案。直至约1888年，用于此类记录的卷宗被称为案件登记簿（Cause List Books，其中"cause"意为案件）。多数小额诉讼法院会随案处理刑事、民事及牌照许可事务，因此案件登记簿通常会详细记录上述各类案件。仅规模最大、业务最繁忙的法院才会将民事、刑事及牌照许可事务分别记录。案件登记簿通常采用统一格式：每页顶部均记录有法院名称、开庭日期、法院庭长及其他主审法官的姓名。针对每起已审理案件，登记簿会记录控告人、被告人姓名、应缴费用、案件事由（即刑事指控或民事诉求性质）、裁决结果及备注信息。备注栏有时会用于记录罚金或费用的缴纳情况。为确保案件登记簿中条目真实有效，法院主审法官需在每日庭审结束后签字确认。