VPRS 1935 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Special Complaints Register

The special jurisdiction of Courts of Petty Sessions was formally established by the Justices' Act 1928. From this time there were two mechanisms within Courts of Petty Sessions/Magistrates Courts for the redress of civil complaints.The "ordinary" jurisdiction empowered the court to determine cases for damages or debts where the precise amount of the claim could be determined according to some objective scale. An example would be the recovery of a debt for goods delivered. Claims brought to court in the ordinary civil jurisdiction often used the system of judgement by default. This system provided that where a respondent did not respond to a summons by giving notice of his or her intention to defend the claim, a judgement could be made in favour of the complainant without a formal court hearing.In its "special" jurisdiction the court itself determined the appropriate amount of redress and operated within a higher jurisdictional limit. Claims for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident were typically handled in the special jurisdiction. In the special jurisdiction a stipendiary magistrate would preside rather than justices of the peace.The Magistrates' Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act 1979 abolished the distinction between ordinary and special complaints and established a single civil jurisdiction.A separate register was required to be kept for recording special complaints. Special Complaints Registers are generally in a common format, giving details of the case number, the name of the complainant, the name of the respondent, how the case came to the court (type and date of summons), a description of the cause or proceeding, the decision or order and any remarks. In order to authenticate entries made in the register the presiding stipendiary magistrate signed it at the end of each day.

1928年《治安法官法》（Justices' Act 1928）正式确立了即决裁判法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）的特别管辖权。自此，即决裁判法院/治安法官法院（Magistrates Courts）内设有两种处理民事申诉的机制。其中“普通管辖权”授予法院审理可依据客观标准确定索赔确切金额的损害赔偿或债务案件，例如追讨已交付货物的欠款。适用普通民事管辖权的诉讼通常采用缺席判决制度：若被告未就传票提交答辩意向通知，则法院可不经正式庭审直接作出有利于原告的判决。在“特别管辖权”模式下，法院自行确定适当的救济金额，且受更高的管辖限额约束，机动车事故引发的损害赔偿索赔通常由该程序处理。特别管辖权程序由领薪治安法官（stipendiary magistrate）主持，而非太平绅士（justices of the peace）。1979年《治安法官法院（民事管辖权）法》（Magistrates' Courts (Civil Jurisdiction) Act 1979）废除了普通申诉与特别申诉的区分，确立了统一的民事管辖权，同时要求单独设立登记簿以记录特别申诉案件。特别申诉登记簿通常采用统一格式，需记录案件编号、原告姓名、被告姓名、案件受理方式（传票类型与签发日期）、案由或诉讼程序说明、判决或裁定内容及其他备注信息。为验证登记簿中登记内容的真实性，每日闭庭后由主持庭审的领薪治安法官签署登记簿。