VPRS 11011 Court of Petty Sessions/Magistrates' Court 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.

治安法院（Courts of Petty Sessions）自1971年起更名为治安法庭（Magistrates' Courts），长期受理范围极为广泛的各类轻微法庭事务。其审理的案件类型随时间推移不断演变扩充，可归为四大司法管辖范畴：刑事、民事、许可及家事法。除大量专门裁判庭外，治安法院/治安法庭是民事与刑事案件中最低层级的救济途径。郡法院、最高法院及各联邦法院负责审理更为严重的刑事案件与标的额更大的民事纠纷。1886年起，许可管辖范畴仅涵盖非酒类许可相关事务。

历任《治安法官法》（Justices' Acts）及近年出台的《治安法庭法》（Magistrates' Court Acts）均要求各法院的书记员或登记官编制并留存所有定罪判决、命令及其他法庭程序的登记档案。该登记册为法庭的权威官方记录。1888年以前，此类记录被称为案由清单簿（Cause List Book）。

最初，多数书记员会为法院全部或大部分业务维护单一登记册。本数据集系列包含混合了各类司法管辖案件的法庭登记册。后续，法院书记员被要求为特定类型案件单独设立登记册，部分法院还开始为不同类型案件增设额外登记档案。通常而言，下述类型案件已设立专属登记册：
- 子女收养：1928年至1958年的子女收养案件
- 民事/传票案件：以传票形式提请至法院的案件
- 联邦管辖：1915年起的联邦司法管辖案件
- 家事法：1975年起的联邦家事法管辖案件
- 许可：1886年以前的酒类许可申请及全部非酒类许可申请
- 扶养：1928年至1975年的扶养案件
- 警方/逮捕案件：由警方逮捕后提请至法院的案件
- 准刑事案件：以传票形式提起的准刑事诉讼
- 特殊申诉：1928年至1979年由法院裁定救济的民事案件

当法院对案件登记进行细分时，每份登记册均会被分配不同的维多利亚州公共档案系列（Victorian Public Record Series, VPRS）编号，且登记册类型会纳入系列标题中。

法庭登记册通常采用统一格式，载明以下详细信息：案件编号、检察官或告发人（刑事案件场景下）、原告（民事案件场景下）或申请人（许可案件场景下）姓名、被告人姓名、案件提请至法院的方式（逮捕、搜查令、传票等）、产生的诉讼费用或法庭成本、指控事由或诉讼程序描述、判决或裁定结果及备注信息。备注栏通常用于记录罚金与费用的缴纳情况。为核验登记册中条目的真实性，法院主审官员需于每日庭审结束后在登记册上签名。